Ethiopia - Chelichele

Chelichele, Yirgacheffe — Ethiopia

This coffee comes from Chelichele, a high-altitude coffee-growing area in Yirgacheffe, southern Ethiopia.

The coffee is produced by smallholder farming families around the villages of Worka Chelichele. Working on small family plots, farmers traditionally grow coffee alongside other crops and carefully hand-pick the ripest cherries at harvest.

Once harvested, the cherries are delivered fresh to the Worka Chelichele Washing Station, where they are carefully sorted and prepared for processing.

The coffee is grown at approximately 1,945–1,970 metres above sea level. The combination of high altitude, fertile soil, cool temperatures and traditional farming practices creates the distinctive character associated with Ethiopian coffee — bright fruit, delicate floral aromas and exceptional sweetness.

Natural Process

For this coffee, the cherries are processed using the natural method. After picking, the whole cherries are carefully sorted and spread across raised drying beds, where they slowly dry in the sun with the fruit remaining around the coffee seed.

As the cherries dry, the fruit imparts its character into the coffee, helping to develop the sweet, fruity and jam-like flavours that make this coffee so distinctive.