Trust The Process - Ethiopia Anaerobic Natural Lemongrass Co-ferment Banko Chelchele

8 oz. Tin — $32

Light Roast
Natural Process

This high-intervention anaerobic natural coffee (co-fermented with lemongrass) was produced by smallholder farmers organized around the Banko Chelchele washing station in southern Ethiopia. Tropical fruit, citrus, and sweet floral aromas lead into notes of lemongrass, white peach, Kölsch, and guava. The cup is juicy with a saturating rounded mouthfeel; an excellent and unique coffee that is much more than the sum of its parts.

Tasting Notes

Lemongrass
White Peach
Kölsch
Guava

Quantity:

Wholebean Only

Details

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Chemex

Form meets function in the classically beautiful Chemex brewer. Grind size is critical when brewing with this method since the brew bed can get large. Use a coarser grind to experience bright and floral fruit notes.

Sourcing & Processing

An open carbon fiber drum holds coffee cherries in cherry must with the long thin yellow leaves of fresh lemongrass on top..

This high-intervention, co-fermented anaerobic natural coffee was produced by smallholder farmers organized around the Banko Chelchele washing station (owned and operated by EDM Ethiopian Coffee Export PLC) in the Gedeb district of southern Ethiopia. Gedeb takes up the south-eastern corner of Ethiopia’s Gedeo Zone, a narrow section of plateau dense with small family farms. Coffee grown in this area has classically been called “Yirgacheffe”, after the zone’s most famous district. However, Gedeb has a distinct terroir, history, and community and merits its own unique designation. Coffees from Gedeb have some of the most explosive cup profiles in all of Ethiopia.

EDN Ethiopian Coffee is an independent processor and exporter of coffee with washing stations in Guji, Gedeb, Yirgacheffe, and Sidama. The Banko Chelchele station employs over 210 people during the harvest months. EDN prefinances all of the contributing farmers and provides educational resources, daily meals, and lodging for staff. These amenities are both a gesture of care and an acknowledgment of the instability of small-scale farming.

Ripe red coffee cherries are spread out in the sun and five workers are hand sorting out the defects.

Naturals at the Banko Chelchele station are hand-sorted upon delivery and moved directly to raised screen beds to dry in the sun. In the case of this special microlot, the fresh coffee cherries were first placed into carbon fiber drums. Fresh cuttings of lemongrass, picked on the shores of Lake Hawasa, were added and the drums were sealed. This mixture was left to ferment anaerobically (deprived of fresh oxygen) for 5-10 days at 15-18 degrees Celsius. This allows the sugars in the fruit to develop far beyond where they would in a traditional natural, without the risk of over fermenting.

The lemongrass infuses the cherry must (the freshly crushed or pressed juice of coffee cherries) that surrounds the fruit and creates new aromatic esters in the process. After the 5-10 day fermentation, the drums were unsealed and the soft and syrupy coffee mixture was carefully moved to raised screen beds to dry, slowly and gradually, for up to 28 days. Once the coffee reached 11% moisture, it was moved to a cool warehouse and left to rest for a number of weeks. This last step allows the internal moisture to equilibrate and the water activity to settle, locking in the unique vibrant flavors.