We taste:  Prominent jammy fruit, grenadine, strawberry preserves, grape jam, tangerine and fruity cacao complemented by a lilac-toned aroma, and a syrupy body.

Producer: Small-holder producers

Region: Gedeb, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia

Elevation: 2,000 meters above sea level

Process: Anaerobic Natural Process

Coffee Story

This coffee comes from Banko Chelchele, a community in Ethiopia’s Gedeb district at the southeastern edge of the Gedeo Zone. Though coffees from this region are commonly sold under the broader Yirgacheffe designation, Gedeb has a character all its own. Its high elevations and proximity to Guji produce some of Ethiopia’s most expressive coffees, with natural lots often showing intense fruit and perfume-like aromatics alongside the floral character the region is known for.

A few hundred smallholder producers deliver freshly harvested cherry to EDN Ethiopian Coffee’s Banko Chelchele processing station, where this lot undergoes a process sometimes referred to as a “supernatural.” After careful sorting, whole coffee cherries are sealed in tanks and fermented anaerobically for 24 hours before being transferred to raised beds to dry in the sun for two to four weeks. This short fermentation before drying builds on the fruit-forward character of a traditional natural process, adding greater intensity and complexity while maintaining the distinctive qualities of the coffee and its origin.

During harvest, the Banko Chelchele station employs more than 200 people to manage cherry intake, sorting, drying, inventory, and other processing work. The result is an especially vibrant expression of Gedeb: intensely aromatic, fruit-driven, and complex, with the bright acidity and floral character that make coffees from this corner of Ethiopia so distinctive.