Ethiopia Danche Hydro Honey Filter

Danche is a washing station in the Chelbesa area of Gedeb, in Ethiopia’s Gedeo Zone, at the high southern end of the Yirgacheffe region. Smallholders from the surrounding villages farm coffee on small family plots and deliver their ripe cherries here at harvest. This lot brings together two of the varieties they grow, 74158 and 74112.

Behind the station is SNAP Specialty Coffee, the family company Negusse Debela founded in 2008. SNAP took over the neighbouring Worka Chelbesa station in 2017 and added Danche two years later, and in a region known for classic washed coffees, its team now also experiments with processes such as this Hydro Honey.

Hydro Honey brings three methods together. The whole cherries first rest briefly on shaded beds, then ferment in tanks of water, open at first and later sealed, before being pulped and dried with their sticky mucilage for about 25 days. The water fermentation keeps the cup clean, while drying with the mucilage builds sweetness and body: ripe mango and pineapple, a floral lift and a dark chocolate finish. This specialty coffee is lively and fragrant as a filter, and smooth and chocolatey as an espresso, with or without milk.