Ethiopia Chelchele, Single, bags, 1kg, Whole Beans

Ethiopia | Chelchele

Single Origin from family farms in southern Yirgacheffe

Medium Roasted Washed Arabica

"What stands out for me is the sweetness and the almost syrupy body. There’s still a lovely freshness, but the acidity is gentle and it finishes with some delicate floral notes. It’s a balanced, comforting coffee that makes a particularly nice espresso, but I’d be just as happy drinking it as filter coffee."

- Ante Bikic, Head Roaster at Amokka

Chelchele comes from the highlands of southern Ethiopia, where small farms sit around 2,000 metres above sea level. This is Yirgacheffe, a coffee-growing area known for delicate floral flavours. Around Chelchele, the deep red soil and local coffee varieties help give the coffee its distinctive character.

At harvest, growers bring their coffee cherries to the Chelchele washing station, which gives this coffee its name. Here, the team removes the fruit pulp and carefully ferments and washes the beans before laying them out on raised drying beds. Many small farms contribute to the coffee that eventually reaches our roastery.

We buy directly from the Ethiopian team who operate the station. Chelchele is also the Ethiopian coffee in our Amokka Crema blend, where it brings freshness and fragrance. As a single origin, it gives you a chance to enjoy that character on its own.

Impact at origin

In Chelchele, twelve farmers have volunteered part of their land for their neighbours to learn on. These small demonstration plots are places to work with local trainers on everything from renewing older coffee trees to protecting fertile soil from being washed away. Farmers can see the methods in practice before deciding what to use on their own land.

Through Impact Trade, we are helping fund this work as part of a year-long programme for 368 coffee farmers. Our contribution supports training and shared equipment, including pruning tools that farmers can borrow. Trainers recruited from the community will also visit farms throughout the year to help growers put the training into practice.

The ambition is to help farmers harvest more good coffee from the land they already work. Over time, that could mean more coffee to sell and a better living from farming. We will follow the results with the local team, with the hope of building on what works in future harvests. The tools remain with the farmer groups, available beyond the first year of training