WORKA CHELCHELE

My first trip to Ethiopia

More than fifteen years ago, I travelled to Ethiopia for the first time. I spent time in this region visiting smallholder communities and helping them learn more about the coffees they were growing.

We travelled with a mobile roasting setup connected to our vehicle's battery. That allowed us to roast on site and set up cuppings right there in the communities.

For the smallholders, it was a rare opportunity to taste and evaluate their own coffees alongside us. We could explore those coffees together, in the place where they had been grown.

We have sourced coffee from this region ever since. This month's release, Worka Chelchele, continues that connection.

Small farms, shared work

This coffee comes from smallholder farms supplying the Banko Chelchele processing station, operated by Tracon Coffee.

A few hundred farmers contribute to the station. Many grow coffee alongside food crops, including enset, an important local staple.

The work begins on those farms, but a shared processing station brings another responsibility: handling each day's harvest carefully enough to preserve its quality.

Dried in the fruit

Natural processing means drying coffee inside the whole cherry. The skin and fruit remain around the seed until drying is complete, helping shape a cup that can be especially expressive in its fruit character.

The cherries are sorted by hand for ripeness and spread on raised beds. Drying typically takes about three weeks, with regular turning during the day and covering at night. The dried cherries then rest before hulling and final milling.

“Natural” describes how the coffee is processed. It still takes attention: the fruit needs to dry evenly, and the people tending the beds have to respond to the weather throughout.

In the cup

Royal Coffee's evaluation points to blueberry, raspberry and hibiscus, with toffee sweetness and milk chocolate.

Use those notes as a guide to exploring the coffee. You don't need to find every flavour on the page to enjoy what's in your cup.

Adjust to taste

If the cup tastes thin or sharply sour, try a little finer. If it tastes dry or bitter, try a little coarser. Change one thing at a time so you can tell what helped.

For other brewing methods, visit our Brew Guides.

More than fifteen years on

This is an impeccably prepared, exotic lot of coffee, and I think it will be one of your favourites.

— Poul