Ethiopia Chelchele Natural - Filter Roast

COUNTRY - Ethiopia
REGION - Kochere, Yirgacheffe
ALTITUDE - 1790 - 1900 M.A.S.L
VARIETAL - Heirloom Yirgacheffe varietal
PROCESSING METHOD - Natural

CHELCHELE
This coffee comes from the Chelchele washing station, which is in the kebele, or village, of Chelchele, in the woreda, or district, of Kochere, in the Yirgacheffe 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.

NATURAL PROCESS
The ripe coffee cherries are hand picked and allowed to dry completely around the seed before being husked or hulled off. While historically this hulling was done by hand with a kind of mortar-and-pestle setup, today it’s done by machinery that can be finely calibrated.
While the coffee is drying the sugars are continually fermenting inside the cherry while there is enough moisture to feed the microorganisms. This can take up to 30 days on average.
Due to the long fermentations, natural processed coffees often display fruity or “pulpy” flavours, often described as “boozy” or “winey”; can also have strong nutty and/or chocolate characteristics, and typically has a heavier or syrupy body

HEIRLOOM YIRGACHEFFE
Ethiopian Heirloom varieties include a diverse range of indigenous coffee plants native to the country that can be separated into two main groups: JARC varieties and landraces.
JARC varieties are designed and improved by the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre to evolve into coffee plants with more appealing traits, like better disease immunity for example. Unlike commercial hybrids, these types have not been extensively bred or altered, preserving Ethiopia's genetic diversity as much as possible.
Regional landraces are wild, mixed coffee trees, known for their unique and complex flavour profiles. These varieties often exhibit fruity, floral, and spicy notes, along with bright acidity and a full body.