Sandbox - Red Honey Kurume & Dega | Ethiopia

Ethiopia — SNAP, Mr. Negusse Konga Washing Station Kurume & Dega (Red Honey)

Tastes Like — 🍈 Cantaloupe • 🌼 Dried Florals • 🍑 Ripe Stone Fruit

DETAILS

• Producer: SNAP, Mr. Negusse (400+ smallholders)
• Washing Station: Konga
• Region: Gedeo Zone, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Kurume & Dega
• Process: Red Honey
• Elevation: 2,000 masl
• Harvest: 2026

INTRO
This Red Honey Kurume & Dega from Konga Washing Station was depulped with the fruit's mucilage left on the parchment before drying. Cantaloupe and dried florals open the nose, followed by ripe stone fruit and a syrupy sweetness. In the cup: cantaloupe, dried florals, and ripe stone fruit.

THE PRODUCER
Konga Washing Station sits at 2,000 masl in the Gedeo zone of Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia. More than 400 smallholder producers deliver cherry to the station from the surrounding kebeles of Koke, Konga, Udessaa, and Birbirsa Kala, most farming small plots of heirloom coffee gardens. Cherry is combined at the station and separated by processing method and quality grade. Konga's lot separation and processing consistency have made it a known source for clean, well-defined Yirgacheffe coffee that lets the region's mixed heirloom character come through in the cup.

THE PROCESS
After depulping, the cherry skin is removed but a substantial portion of the sticky mucilage — the "honey" — is left intact on the parchment during drying. Red Honey sits further along the mucilage spectrum than Yellow Honey, with the coffee dried under more shade to slow moisture loss and extend contact between bean and fruit sugars.

This extended, shaded honey drying is the defining step — it's what allows lightly fermented, jammier fruit notes to develop alongside a fuller body and more moderate acidity than a fully washed coffee, sitting between washed and natural: cleaner than a natural, sweeter and more textured than a washed.

THE CUP
Cantaloupe and dried florals open the nose, followed by ripe stone fruit and a syrupy sweetness. A soft, rounded acidity carries through to a lingering honey finish.

Flavour Notes
🍈 Cantaloupe 🌼 Dried Florals 🍑 Ripe Stone Fruit