Ethiopia Natural Chelbessa Grade 1

Tasting Notes: blueberry | caramel | chocolate

Brew Style: Versatile

Origins: Yirgacheffe

Elevation: 1700-2100 m.a.s.l Above Sea Level

Variety: Heirloom

Process: Natural

Producer: Various small holders

Sourcing Partner: Cafe Imports

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This coffee comes from the Chelbessa Washing Station in Yirgacheffe. Chelbessa is one of the largest “Kebeles” or towns in Gedeb. This washing station receives coffee from nearly 500 farmers in the region. 

Coffees in Ethiopia are typically grown on very small plots of land by farmers who also grow other crops. The majority of smallholders will deliver their coffee in cherry to a nearby washing station or central processing unit, where their coffee will be sorted, weighed, and paid for or given a receipt. Coffee is then processed, usually washed or natural, by the washing station and dried on raised beds.

The washing stations serve as many as several hundred to sometimes a thousand or more producers, who deliver cherry throughout the harvest season: The blending of these cherries into day lots makes it virtually impossible under normal circumstances to know precisely whose coffee winds up in which bags on what day, making traceability to the producer difficult. We do, however, make every available effort to source coffee from the same washing stations every year, through our export partners and their connections with mills and washing stations.

Typically farmers in this region don't have access to and therefore do not utilize fertilizers or pesticides in the production of coffee.