About Ethiopia Yrgacheffe Chelelektu
This year was our first time offering coffee from the Chelelektu washing station. We ran out and now have some addtional to finish out the season. We first sampled this coffee during a blind cupping, and were impressed by the unusual spice notes and flavors it offered.
Chelelektu is a family-owned washing station located in the Yirgacheffe region. Small-scale growers from the area bring cherries to the station, where they are processed and sorted. Coffee is washed and fermented with water from local springs and streams for about 37 hours, then dried on raised beds. While the washing station is located 1800m above sea level, farms in the area range in elevation from 1300m to 2200m above sea level, making coffee at the washing station some of the most altitudinally diverse available.
- Washing Station: Chelelektu
- Region: Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples
- Zone: Gedeo
- District (Woreda): Kochere
- Altitude: 1300-2200m above sea level
- Coffee variety: Heirloom Varietals
- Processing: Washed
- Harvest: November-March
Cup Characteristics: Lots of spices in the cup notably cumin with coriander lemony accents. Floral with additional notes of grapefruit, lemongrass and honey. Very clean and sweet with characteristic washed Yirgacheffe flavor profile, ending with a crisp, long finish.
Roasting Notes: Full City is a nice level for this coffee, taking it up to, but not pushing beyond 2nd crack. At City+ the floral and lemony character is preserved, but the body will be a bit reduced.
Ethiopia coffee facts:
Population (2020): 115 Million People
Domestic Consumption: 1.5 Million bags per year
Coffee Export: 1.5 Million Bags of 60 Kg. (132.29 lb.)
Cultivated Area: 400,000 Hectares (988,000 Acres)
Harvest:
-- Unwashed: October to March
-- Washed: end of July to December
Arabica Introduced: The birthplace of coffee. Oldest
recognized country of origin for uncultivated Arabica species.
Farms:
331,130 (94%) Smallholdings (less than or equal to 2.47 acres)
19,000 (6%) Government
Specialty Coffees:
Washed: Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Limu, Bebeka
Unwashed: Harrar, Sidamo, Djimmah, Lekempti (wild coffee
trees)
Botanical Varietals: Numerous indigenous cultivars.
Comments
About 50% of the coffee produced in Ethiopia is consumed there as the population has a rich coffee drinking culture, replete with ceremony and tradition.