Ethiopia — Danche Washing Station Dega, Kurume & Wolisho (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍊 Tangerine • 🌸 Jasmine • 🍑 Nectarine • 🍵 Earl Grey

DETAILS

• Washing Station: Danche (SNAP Specialty Coffee)
• Region: Chelbesa, Gedeb, Gedeo, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Dega, Kurume & Wolisho, with other local landraces
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 2,000–2,300 masl

INTRO From Danche washing station in Chelbesa, Gedeb — a lot visited firsthand, offering a closer look at the terroir and processing behind some of Ethiopia's most consistently excellent coffees. Tangerine and nectarine brightness lead, with jasmine florality and an Earl Grey-like structure running throughout. In the cup: tangerine, jasmine, nectarine, and Earl Grey.

THE PRODUCER SNAP Specialty Coffee was founded in Addis Ababa in 2008 by Negusse Debela, working with smallholder farmers and washing stations across several of Ethiopia's coffee-growing regions. In 2017, SNAP established its first washing station in nearby Worka Chelbesa, in the Gedeb woreda, developing processing standards built on tiled fermentation tanks, precise fermentation times, and controlled drying protocols. When that station reached capacity, SNAP acquired the neighbouring Danche washing station in 2019, located between 2,000 and 2,300 masl and working with around 800 local smallholder farmers, most cultivating one to two hectares. These high elevations shape the coffee's distinctive floral character and complex acidity, and the Danche team's deep agronomy experience has made it known for consistency and precision, particularly in its clean washed lots.

This lot is mainly composed of Dega, Kurume, and Wolisho, alongside other local Ethiopian landraces, though exact proportions remain unknown — cherry from hundreds of smallholder farmers is processed together, making precise varietal composition difficult to determine. SNAP continues working to better identify and separate varieties as part of an ongoing traceability effort.

THE PROCESS After harvesting, cherries rest in the shade for 45-60 hours for a slow fermentation before washing to remove all mucilage. The coffee then dries in a 5-10cm thick layer for 7-10 days, with drying beds opened at 3am, covered between 12pm and 2pm, and reopened until 5pm for optimal drying.

The extended 45-60 hour shade fermentation is the defining step — this slow, controlled process is what builds the clean tangerine brightness and Earl Grey-like structure that define this cup, alongside its natural floral, nectarine-driven sweetness.

THE CUP Clean and bright — tangerine and nectarine up front, jasmine florality woven through, and an Earl Grey-like structure on the finish. A precise, consistent expression of Gedeb's terroir.

Flavour Notes 🍊 Tangerine 🌸 Jasmine 🍑 Nectarine 🍵 Earl Grey