Ethiopia — SNAP Specialty Coffee Danche Chelbesa Dega & Wolisho (Hydro Honey)

Tastes Like — 🫐 Blueberry • 🍓 Raspberry • 🍐 Guava • 🍈 Melon • 🍊 Tangerine

DETAILS

• Producer: SNAP Specialty Coffee & Various Gedeb Zone Producers
• Washing Station: Chelbesa, Danche Village
• Region: Gedeb Zone, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Dega & Wolisho
• Process: Hydro Honey
• Altitude: 1,950–2,200 MASL
• Size: 200g

INTRO

A third-year collaboration between September Coffee and the Danche washing station — and the second time featuring this remarkable Hydro Honey. Built on Dega and Wolisho, two named Ethiopian heirloom varietals, this is an incredibly sweet, creamy, and complex cup that sits at a fascinating intersection of natural and honey processing. In the cup: fresh blueberries and raspberries, tropical guava, sweet melon, and juicy tangerine, with a light, silky body and a long sweet finish.

THE PRODUCER

Danche is one of the finest coffee-producing areas within the Gedeb Zone, known for its dense, shaded, and layered vegetational structure that creates ideal conditions for slow cherry development and exceptional cup complexity. In 2019, SNAP Specialty Coffee built a new wet mill in the small hamlet of Chelbesa, within Danche Village, with the ambition of directly connecting to local producers and ensuring their red cherries could be purchased and processed with care. Since then, that ambition has become a reality — local smallholder producers regularly utilise the Chelbesa mill, resulting in exceptional lots like this Hydro Honey.

Dega and Wolisho are named sub-varietals of Ethiopia's vast heirloom coffee gene pool — part of an ongoing effort to identify and categorise the many endemic varieties that have been growing and cross-breeding in Ethiopia for centuries. Both are prized for their aromatic complexity and the depth of sweetness they contribute at altitude.

THE PROCESS

The Hydro Honey process at Chelbesa involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Cherries harvested at peak ripeness ☀️ Initial shaded drying — Whole cherries dried on shaded drying beds for 48 hours, similar to a natural process 💧 Water tank fermentation — Cherries placed in a tank of water for 48 hours, split between 24 hours of aerobic fermentation and 24 hours of anaerobic fermentation 🔧 De-pulping — Cherries de-pulped after the water fermentation stage 🌑 Shaded honey drying — De-pulped coffee dried on shaded beds for approximately 25 days with mucilage intact, similar to a honey process

The Hydro Honey process is the defining step — a genuinely innovative hybrid that combines elements of natural, anaerobic, and honey processing in sequence. The initial whole-fruit drying builds sweetness and body; the water fermentation adds complexity and aromatic depth; and the extended shaded honey drying locks in the silky texture and clean, layered finish that make this lot so distinctive.

THE CUP

An incredibly sweet, complex, and beautifully layered Hydro Honey from one of Yirgacheffe's most forward-thinking washing stations — fresh mixed berries, tropical guava, sweet melon, and juicy tangerine brightness, all wrapped in a light, silky body with a long, sweet finish. A compelling expression of what innovation and terroir can achieve together in Danche.

Flavour Notes

🫐 Blueberry 🍓 Raspberry 🍐 Guava  🍈 Melon 🍊 Tangerine