Where Yirgacheffe meets Guji.
Chelbesa Washing Station sits in the misty highlands of southern Ethiopia, at the point where the celebrated growing regions of Yirgacheffe and Guji converge. It produces some of the country’s most elegant and expressive coffees.
Grown between 1,950 and 2,200 metres above sea level, these coffees thrive in rich volcanic soil beneath native shade trees in a semi-forest environment. Cool temperatures, abundant organic matter and clean mountain spring water create ideal conditions for slow cherry maturation — and slow maturation is where the complexity and sweetness come from.
The lot is produced by smallholder farming families in the Chelbesa community, who harvest only fully ripe cherries during the peak season from October through January. Every lot goes through rigorous selection before it is processed, and the station’s attention to detail defines every stage that follows.
Four stages, no shortcuts.
The traditional Ethiopian fully washed method, run with the precision a Grade 1 designation demands.
Cherries are pulped shortly after harvest, before any uncontrolled fermentation can begin.
The coffee ferments in clean water tanks for a day and a half to two days, developing acidity and definition.
Thorough washing, then density sorting, then a second soak — the step that buys the cup its clarity and balance.
Parchment dries on raised African beds for ten to fourteen days, monitored constantly for even drying.
The birthplace, and still the benchmark.
Ethiopia is widely regarded as the birthplace of coffee. The legend of Kaldi, a goat herder who noticed what the cherries did to his animals, sits at the centre of the origin story, and Ethiopian coffee culture remains deeply rooted in ceremony that celebrates coffee's social and spiritual significance.
Few growing regions are as revered as Yirgacheffe itself — a small area within the Gedeo Zone whose name has become shorthand for elegance. Depending on variety and process, coffees from here run from jasmine, bergamot and honey to stone fruit and bright berries. For roasters it is one of the most trusted origin names in the industry, and it is the coffee on our shelf that tastes least like anything else.
The one to buy if you drink it black.
Yirgacheffe is our brightest, most aromatic coffee, and it rewards a careful pour over. It also lifts our Breakfast Blend and Café House, where it supplies the floral top note.
