Chelbesa Ethiopia. Mixed Heirloom Varietals. Washed.

Every bean has a story
The station where this coffee grows can be found at 2200 masl on a 2-hectare area where 150 raised beds are installed. Ephtah empowers women by a series of initiatives including education, financial knowledge, financing and strengthening the female coffee community leadership.

This region's characteristics are its microclimate and fertile soil. These characteristics make it perfect to grow exceptional coffee, enhancing coffee profiles, and leading to more fruity and floral notes. Coffee farmers grow mainly heirloom varieties. These coffees come from trees at 2150 to 2200 m.a.s.l. The team there only picks the ripe cherries from the trees. Then, they take the cherries to the processing station, carefully select the best ones, and remove any that are unripe, overripe, or defective. This step is crucial to ensure a high-quality final product.

Then, they remove the skin of the coffee cherry using a pulping machine, which essentially removes the fruit from the bean. Following that, they place the beans, still covered with mucilage, to ferment in tanks for 48 to 72 hours. This fermentation process helps to break down the remaining fruit layer. After fermentation, they thoroughly wash the beans to remove any residual mucilage. Finally, the coffee sundries for 10 - 15 days until it achieves the ideal moisture.

Heirloom Varieties

The term 'heirloom' is used in the context of coffee to refer to the unidentified wild varieties that grow on Ethiopian farms. Despite some of these varieties not being genetically identified, they are classified
into two groups: JARC varieties and regional landraces. Regional landraces are coffee trees that grow entirely in the wild and on some farms. Meanwhile, JARC varieties are coffees being developed and researched by the Jimma Agricultural Research Center.

 

If you enjoy coffees from Ethiopia, the world's fifth largest producer of coffee, we recommend you give our other Heirloom coffee, Nafkot Admasu, a try!