ETHIOPIA | Chelchele | Heirloom | Washed

Origin

• 🇪🇹 Ethiopia· Yirgacheffe

Tasting notes

Character

• Clean
  30

This exceptional coffee comes from the Chelchele washing stationWashing stationA central mill where many smallholder farmers deliver cherry for processing. In Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda the station name (e.g. Idido) often identifies the coffee., located in the small town of Worka , in the Gedeb region of Yirgacheffe . Farming practices in Yirgacheffe remain pretty traditional , with producers typically farming very small plots of land (1-2 hectares) adjacent to their homes – they’re essentially farming in their backyard. It’s very much a family business, with spouses, children, and grandchildren providing all the labor. After the days harvest is done, producers deliver their coffee to community washing stations for processing. Roughly 500 producers deliver their coffee to the Chelchele washing station, where Ali Yasin (the Station Manager) and his team work their processing magic. Chelchele is one of the large washing stations in the area, and rather than focusing on a specific type of processing – they’re able to process coffees as washedWashed processThe fruit is removed from the seed before drying, usually with fermentation and a water rinse. Tends to give clean, transparent cups where origin character shows clearly., naturalNatural processThe whole cherry is dried with the fruit still on the seed. Gives heavier body and big fruit flavors — think berries and wine — sometimes with a fermenty edge., or using experimental techniques. The diversity of native heirloomHeirloom (Ethiopia)A catch-all label for Ethiopia's thousands of indigenous, largely uncatalogued coffee varieties — used when a lot's exact genetics are unknown. varieties in the region means that coffees from Chelchele are some of the most sought after in Ethiopia, year after year.