Ethiopia
Yirgacheffe
small holder farmers
Danche
Local land race and JARC Varieties
Washed
NOV - JAN
Citrus, Apricot, Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Dried Red Fruit, Nougat
2200 meters
N/A
60kg W/GrainPro
USA - New Jersey - CTI
This coffee was produced by smallholder producers in the Worka Chelbesa kebele, or village, in the Gedeo zone of Ethiopia, and was processed at a wet mill in the kebele operated by Negusse Debela. Negusse operates two sites now in Worka Chelbesa, including one in the Danche sub-area, and processes Washed, Natural, and unique experimental lots to continue improving the quality of their final product.
Worka Chelbesa is in Gedeb woreda, which is the southernmost part of the Gedeo zone. The area is known for its dense semi-forest vegetation, including ensete trees and other shade plants, providing ideal conditions for shade-grown coffee.
The term “premium,” when used for this coffee, refers to Ethiopian coffee with a grade 2 classification and an SCA score between 80 and 84.75. Although it’s labeled as grade 2, its quality is very close to grade 1, making it one of the best coffees in its category, which is why it is considered “premium grade 2.”
Local farmers grow Wolisho and Dega variety coffee, which are landrace varieties from the Yirgacheffe region. Cherries are manually harvested before being taken to the processing station where they are hand sorted before being processed. Pulped coffee is wet fermented for 72 hours before being washed in channels. The fermentation tanks at Negusse’s sites are ceramic, quickening the fermentation process and contributing to the clarity of the final cup. The coffee is then density sorted for quality, ensuring easy separation in higher grade lots. After fermentation and sorting, coffee is soaked for two hours to complete the fully Washed process and then dried for 10 days. All coffee is hand sorted a final time after drying before being prepared for export.
As the coffee industry continues to grow in Ethiopia, the country’s historic growing areas don’t always match up with the current-day maps defining Ethiopia’s geography. Our goal is to provide the clearest and most accurate information about the coffees that we offer, and we’re proud to provide the most specific location information we have for these coffees. Learn more about Ethiopia’s coffee growing regions on our blog.
Region: Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNPR)
Zone: Gedeo
Woreda: Gedeb
Kebele: Worka Chelbesa
ECX Growing Area: Yirgacheffe
Yirgacheffe:
Literally translated as “Land of Many Springs,” Yirgacheffe has the ideal topography, elevation, and water sources to produce and process exceptional coffees. Yirgacheffe is a coffee classification in the Ethiopia coffee market. It is also one of the woredas in the Gedeo zone, a district like a municipality or county that includes many towns of South Ethiopia Region (formerly Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region-SNNPR).
Coffee farmers in Yirgacheffe are typically multi-generational small-scale landholders, sometimes farming only a few acres. Most coffees in Yirgacheffe are sold as cherry to centralized washing stations that help further separate flavor profiles.
Yirgacheffe is considered by many to be the birthplace of coffee and the coffee trees grown in the region are a naturally occurring mix of heirloom varieties cultivated among other species in coffee gardens and coffee forests. As part of the Gedeo Zone, Yirgacheffe is bordered to the south by Kochere, to the west by the Oromia Zone, to the north by Wenago, and to the east by Bule.
