Chelelektu Yirgacheffe G2 FW

The Chelelektu washing station was built in 2010 and processes up to 950,000kg of ripe coffee cherries each year. Around 363 smallholders bring cherry for processing here. Farmers in the region farm at a wide range of elevations. Farms range from 1,300 to 2,200 meters above sea level. This feature makes Chelelektu one of the  washing stations with coffees from the widest range of elevations in Yirgacheffe.

The Washing Station occupies nearly 3 hectares of land in Chelelektu kebele, or town, where it is located in the Kochere district of the Yirgacheffe coffee area of the Gedeo Zone. Since 2014, theteam here has improved infrastructure, focusing on improving their specialty offerings. 

Farmers in this region have farmed coffee for generations upon generations. They are true specialists and are committed to using the best chemical-free cultivation methods. These cultivation methods result in an already stand-out product, and Chelelektu makes the most of this by adhering to stringent post-harvest standards. 

After selective handpicking, farmer deliver their coffee to Chelelektu to be processed. For Fully washed lots such as this one, cherry is pulped and then fermented for 36 to 72 hours, depending on the weather conditions. Once fermentation is complete, the parchment is thoroughly washed in clean water and sent through grading channels, which separate each lot into two grades based on density. After washing coffees are dried for 18 days on 134 raised beds in the sun.

Yirgacheffe is a district in Southern Ethiopia’s Sidamo region. Yirgacheffe is widely recognized as one of coffee’s ‘birth regions.’ Washed coffees coming from this district are so well-known and sought-after that Yirgacheffe is considered its own micro-region.  

The majority of coffees grown in Yirgacheffe are local landrace varieties (which are often also called Ethiopian heirloom). Other varieties grown in the region were developed by the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre (JARC). JARC is an important research center for Ethiopia and has done a great deal of work on developing disease-resistant and high-yielding varieties that still demonstrate quality in the profile. 

Most farmers in the region farm on fewer than 5 hectares (many counting their coffee farms in terms of trees rather than area). Cultivation methods are traditional for the most part, with coffee being grown as part of an integrated ‘coffee garden,’ intercropped with other food crops. 

In the Ethiopian grading system, grade 2 refers to the cup quality as well as physical quality of a coffee. A grade 2 allows between four and 13 full defects per 300gr green sample. The cup typically has fruity and clean characteristics without any off-flavors.  

Ethiopia Sidamo 2 is a classic in every coffee range and is especially popular in blends. The cup quality can be very surprising for prices well below the grade 1 price point. For us, grade 2 coffee typically sits around an 83-84 cup score.