SEY Worka Chelbesa (Ethiopia)
From the roaster...
This is a very interesting lot from a washing station we've been working with for a few years now. This is a blend of both wet and dry fermented coffee. The result is a very sweet and juicy coffee with more fruit forward complexity and a touch less acidity than we'd normally expect. In the cup we find florality and red tea, with deeper tropical fruit and a peach-like brightness.
VARIETAL
Ethiopian Landrace
REGION
Gedeb, Gedeo
ALTITUDE
1,900 - 2,200 masl
HARVEST
December, 2020
PROCESSING
Harvested at peak ripeness. Hand sorted, then floated to further remove defects. Depulped. Half of this lot was fermented in the traditional Ethiopian manner: fully submerged in water for 36-48 hours. The other half was dry fermented for 36-48 hours. The lots were then blended and dried on raised beds until moisture content reaches 10.5%.
ABOUT WORKA CHELBESA
We are getting better at finding, isolating, and separating coffees in Ethiopia. This is an excellent example of such success. About a decade ago, most of the coffee from Gedeo would have been sold under the more famous and popular name of Yirgachefe. However, there are many woredas (districts) in Gedeo that we are now able to keep separate and explore as individual producing regions. These woredas are: Dilla, Dilla Zuria, Bule, Wenago, Yirgacheffe, Kochere, and Gedeb. Gedeb is the southern most woreda of the Gedeo Zone, and has only been producing coffee for one or two generations. Most of the trees are about 20-30 years old—quite young by Ethiopian standards. This area is fascinating for multiple reasons, and we'll continue to explore the region with a lot of interest as we try to find and bring new and beautiful coffees to market.
ABOUT ETHIOPIAN LANDRACE
Ethiopia is widely acknowledged as where coffee originated, and its production continues to represent about 10% of the country’s gross domestic product. DNA testing has confirmed over 60 distinct varieties growing in Ethiopia, making it home to the most coffee biodiversity of any region in the world. Given the tradition of coffee production in Ethiopia and the political interworkings of the Ethiopian coffee trade, it is virtually impossible to get single variety coffee lots from Ethiopia. This is changing, albeit very slowly. Most Ethiopian coffees are blends of the many Ethiopian varieties, and referred to simply as 'Ethiopian Landrace'.