Chelchele Natural

Chelchele Natural comes to us from many smallholder farmers in Gedeb, a district within the larger Gedeo zone of southern Ethiopia. Gedeb is rich with fertile red clay soil, plentiful rainfall and extremely high elevations that create an ideal climate for growing coffee and it has quickly become one of our favorite subregions to purchase from this year. This particular selection is full of ripe stone fruit and berry flavors and a golden, syrupy sweetness. 

After farmers deliver freshly harvested coffee to the nearby processing facility, or washing station as they are known in Ethiopia, it is sorted to remove any debris and underripe or overripe fruit. This step is crucial to ensure a consistent and high quality final product. Then the coffee is transferred to raised beds to dry in the sun for two to four weeks, being turned regularly so that it slowly and evenly reaches a desired moisture level. The fully dried fruit from these drying beds is combined and stored in a cool warehouse where it stabilizes for another couple of weeks before first being hulled to remove the dried fruit and then milled to remove the parchment, a protective layer that surrounds each coffee seed.

Orders placed Monday - Thursday by 9am will be roasted and shipped the same day. Orders placed after our daily or weekly cutoff will be roasted the next scheduled production day. All online orders are shipped within 24 hours of roasting.