Prodigal Coffee - Chelbesa One Espresso | Ethiopia

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Ethiopia — SNAP Specialty Coffee Chelbesa One Korume & Wolisho (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍑 Apricot • 🍇 Grape • 🍵 Black Tea

DETAILS

• Station: Chelbesa One Washing Station — SNAP Specialty Coffee
• Region: Gedeb, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Heirloom Korume & Wolisho
• Process: Washed (2–3 Day Dry Fermentation + 7–10 Day Drying)
• Roast: Espresso
• Size: 250g

INTRO

One of Prodigal Coffee's favourite washed Ethiopians this year — Chelbesa One, roasted a touch darker than the filter version for exceptional straight shots and Americanos. Full of complex, varied, and layered flavours that reveal something different with every tasting. In the cup: apricot, grape, and black tea, with mandarin orange, pomegranate, pineapple, and lemon also discovered across multiple sittings.

THE PRODUCER

Chelbesa One washing station is managed by SNAP Specialty Coffee — an organisation that has helped train countless thousands of Ethiopian farmers on essential skills including plant management, growing techniques, and climate-focused agricultural practices. Approximately 1,000 farmers deliver fresh cherry to Chelbesa One, each cultivating small, high-altitude plots of 2–3 hectares in the Gedeb woreda of Yirgacheffe — one of Ethiopia's most celebrated and historically significant specialty coffee growing regions.

Gedeb is the southernmost woreda of Yirgacheffe, and coffees from this area have developed a distinct and much-celebrated identity within the broader Yirgacheffe landscape. At high altitude in Gedeb, the Korume and Wolisho heirloom varieties — two of Ethiopia's most widely grown and celebrated landrace selections — produce the vivid, multi-layered complexity that defines this lot.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Chelbesa One involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Korume and Wolisho cherries selectively harvested by smallholder farmers 💧 Flotation — Floated to remove defects before processing 🔧 Pulping — Outer skin removed before fermentation 🧪 2–3 day dry fermentation — Beans fermented dry for two to three days 💧 Washing — Thoroughly washed after fermentation to remove all residue ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Dried over 7–10 days with frequent rotation to ensure even drying throughout

The 2–3 day dry fermentation is the defining step — a patient, extended dry fermentation builds the layered complexity of apricot, grape, and black tea that define this lot, while the frequent rotation during the 7–10 day drying ensures an even, consistent result that preserves the full variety and depth of flavour that makes Chelbesa One such a compelling espresso.

THE CUP

A complex, layered, and deeply rewarding washed Ethiopian espresso from one of Gedeb's most community-focused and farmer-training-driven washing stations — apricot and grape sweetness leading into a black tea elegance, with mandarin, pomegranate, pineapple, and lemon revealing themselves across different sittings and temperatures. One of Prodigal Coffee's favourites of the year, delivering exceptional straight shots and Americanos.

Flavour Notes

🍑 Apricot 🍇 Grape 🍵 Black Tea