Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

REGION : Banko Chelchele Kabele, Gedeb Woreda, Gedeo Zone, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region 

FARMER : 396 smallholder farmers organized around the Banko Chelchele washing station 

VARIETY : Indigenous landraces and locally selected cultivars

PROCESS : Fully washed and dried on raised beds 

SOIL : Vertisol 

ALTITUDE : 1900-2100 masl 

ROAST LEVEL : 1/5

AROMA : Floral, Fruity

FLAVOR : Lemon, Raspberry, Jasmine, Raisin

ACIDITY : High

BODY : Medium, sweet

WHY WE LIKE THIS COFFEE : Exciting cup with floral, tea-like taste combined with fruity raspberry and sweet raisin notes

RECOMMEND FOR : Adventurous specialty coffee enthusiasts seeking complex floral aromatics and fruit character

The municipality of Gedeb itself is a is a bustling outpost that links commerce between the Guji and Gedeo Zones, with an expansive network of processing stations who buy cherry from across zone borders. These processors (and we would agree) would argue their coffee profiles are not exactly Yirgacheffe, but something of their own. Coffees from this community, much closer to Guji Zone than the rest of Yirgacheffe, are often the most explosive cup profiles we see from anywhere in Ethiopia. Naturals tend to have perfume-like volatiles, and fully washed lots are often sparklingly clean and fruit candy-like in structure. 

The communities surrounding Gedeb reach some of the highest growing elevations for coffee in the world and are a truly enchanting part of the long drive into Guji. Banko Chelchele is one of the communities east of Gedeb, part of a greater area known as “Worka”. This dense corner of Gedeb includes farmers that are cooperative-affiliated, as well independent washing stations of various types, many of which are simply named “Chelchele” or, in this case, “Worka Chelchele” after the local municipality itself.