Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

Chelbesa Washing Station sits in the misty highlands of southern Ethiopia, where the celebrated growing regions of Yirgacheffe and Guji converge. Grown between 1,950 and 2,200 metres in rich volcanic soil beneath native shade trees, these coffees mature slowly — and slow maturation is where the complexity and sweetness come from.

Smallholder families in the Chelbesa community harvest only fully ripe cherries from October through January. The lot is processed the traditional fully washed way: pulped the same day, fermented 36 to 48 hours in clean water, washed, density sorted, soaked a second time, then dried ten to fourteen days on raised beds.

This is the lightest roast on our shelf. Anything darker would bury the jasmine and stone fruit that make Yirgacheffe worth buying in the first place.