Ethiopia — Aklilu Kassa Chirrissa Duwancho Station 74158 Mini (Anaerobic Honey)

Tastes Like — 🌸 Peony • 🍇 Rose Grape • 🍓 Raspberry Jam • 🌺 Floral Tea

DETAILS

• Producer: Aklilu Kassa Chirrissa
• Station: Duwancho
• Region: Arbegona, Sidama, Ethiopia
• Varietal: JARC 74158 Mini (Screen 11 & 12)
• Process: Anaerobic Honey
• Altitude: 2,230–2,310 MASL
• Harvest: December 2025 — Arrived April 2026 by air

INTRO

From Aklilu Kassa Chirrissa at the Duwancho station in Arbegona — a small-screen anaerobic honey separation of JARC 74158 from a third-generation coffee family whose roots in Sidama stretch back to the 1960s. The Mini designation refers to the small screen 11 & 12 beans sorted and graded separately after processing — a meticulous quality step that produces a cleaner, more balanced and concentrated overall flavour. In the cup: peony florality, rose grape, raspberry jam, and floral tea.

THE PRODUCER

Aklilu Kassa Chirrissa comes from a family whose coffee-growing history in Arbegona dates back to the 1960s. While upholding those agricultural traditions, Aklilu has grown the family operation into a mature coffee export company, founded in 1998, with modern processing facilities capable of handling washed, natural, and experimental processes at scale. Alongside conventional methods, the team specialises in anaerobic fermentation, honey processing, and specialty fermentations including a technique they call "Soup" — a commitment to processing innovation that mirrors the ambitions of the best Colombian and Panamanian producers, applied to Ethiopia's extraordinary varietal and terroir base.

JARC 74158 was developed by the Jimma Agricultural Research Centre and selected for its resistance to coffee berry disease and quality potential at high altitude. At 2,230–2,310 MASL in Arbegona — one of Sidama's most elevated growing areas — the variety delivers exceptional aromatic complexity and sweetness, which the anaerobic honey protocol amplifies beautifully.

THE PROCESS

The Anaerobic Honey process at Duwancho involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Fresh cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 💧 Flotation & grading — Floated and graded upon arrival to remove defects and ensure consistency 🔧 Depulping — Outer skin removed while mucilage is retained on the bean 🔒 Anaerobic fermentation — Depulped beans with mucilage intact fermented in sealed fermentation tanks for approximately 18 hours ☀️ Shaded raised-bed drying — Transferred to raised African drying beds and dried slowly under shaded conditions for 13–15 days to preserve delicate, multi-layered flavour 🔍 Mini screen separation — Small-screen beans (Screen 11 & 12) sorted and graded separately after processing, ensuring a cleaner and more balanced overall cup profile

The small-screen Mini separation is the defining final step — by sorting screen 11 & 12 beans as a distinct lot after processing, Aklilu Kassa ensures an exceptional consistency and concentration of flavour across the entire batch, producing the clean, balanced, and intensely aromatic profile that defines this lot.

THE CUP

A beautifully floral and deeply aromatic anaerobic honey from one of Arbegona's most technically ambitious specialty operations — peony delicacy and rose grape sweetness up front, raspberry jam richness through the middle, and a long floral tea finish that speaks of both the extraordinary altitude and the precision of Duwancho's meticulous processing.

Flavour Notes

🌸 Peony 🍇 Rose Grape 🍓 Raspberry Jam 🌺 Floral Tea