Ethiopia — Chelchele Washing & Dry Processing Site Heirloom (Natural)

Tastes Like — 🫐 Blackberry • 🍒 Cherry Jam • 🌴 Dates

DETAILS

• Station: Chelchele Washing & Dry Processing Site
• Region: Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Heirloom
• Process: Natural
• Altitude: 1,900–2,100 MASL
• Roast: Espresso
• Size: 250g

INTRO

DAK's second summer release — Surf Jam. A natural Ethiopian that is dense, jammy, and deeply fruited, from the same Chelchele station that produced this year's Lemon Spritz washed lot. Where that was clean and citrus-forward, this is the full natural counterpart: blackberry, cherry jam, and dates in a rich, jammy, and thoroughly satisfying espresso.

THE PRODUCER

The Chelchele washing and dry processing site takes its name from the village of Chelchele in the Yirgacheffe region of southern Ethiopia — one of the world's most celebrated specialty coffee growing areas. The station processes coffee from farms at 1,900–2,100 MASL across the surrounding area, with the site itself sitting at 2,000 MASL and equipped with substantial infrastructure: 14 fermentation and washing tanks, 130–150 drying beds, two 90,000-litre water tanks, and a 30 by 16-metre dry coffee preparation warehouse. The coffee varieties are intercropped with Enset, beans, and avocado trees in Chelchele's distinctive red-brown fertile soil — a traditional agroforestry system that has shaped the character of this growing environment for generations.

Ethiopia's extraordinary biodiversity — with DNA testing confirming over 60 distinct varieties — means most Ethiopian coffees are blends of many co-existing heirloom cultivars, referred to collectively as Ethiopian Landrace. At 1,900–2,100 MASL in Yirgacheffe, this diversity finds ideal conditions to build the dense, jammy fruit character that defines the best natural lots from this region.

THE PROCESS

The Natural process at Chelchele involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Heirloom cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 🔍 Sorting — Carefully sorted before drying to ensure only the finest ripe cherries proceed ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Whole cherries dried on up to 150 raised drying beds, turned regularly to ensure even drying throughout

The raised-bed natural drying is the defining step — the beans rest inside the intact cherry throughout the drying period across Chelchele's extensive raised-bed infrastructure, slowly absorbing the fruit's sugars and developing the dense blackberry and cherry jam sweetness and date richness that define this lot.

THE CUP

A dense, jammy, and deeply fruited natural espresso from one of Yirgacheffe's most well-equipped and consistently excellent processing stations — blackberry richness, cherry jam sweetness, and date depth in a full-bodied, indulgent cup that makes a very satisfying summer espresso. Surf Jam: the complement to Lemon Spritz, and equally well named.

Flavour Notes

🫐 Blackberry 🍒 Cherry Jam 🌴 Dates