Ethiopia — Neguesse Debela Danche Ethiopian Landrace (White Honey)

Tastes Like — 🍑 Peach Tea • 🍉 Watermelon • 🍋 Key Lime

DETAILS

• Producer: Neguesse Debela
• Station: Danche Washing Station
• Region: Gedeb, Gedeo, Ethiopia
• Varietal: Ethiopian Landrace
• Process: White Honey
• Altitude: 2,200 MASL
• Harvest: December 2025
• Size: 250g

INTRO

From Neguesse Debela's Danche station in Gedeb — one of Ethiopia's most celebrated sub-regions for exceptional cup quality. This year's harvest marks a step forward: working in collaboration with the SNAP quality control team and Tim Hill, a new intensive lot selection process was developed to identify only the finest Grade 1 coffees of the season. The results speak for themselves. In the cup: peach tea, watermelon, and Key lime.

THE PRODUCER

Neguesse Debela began his journey into specialty processing in 2017, opening his first site in Worka Chelbessa before expanding with the purchase of the Danche washing station in the nearby Gedeb sub-region in 2019. Both sites have built strong reputations for exceptional washed and natural coffees, with an increasing focus on experimental processing and quality refinement over recent harvests.

This season, in collaboration with the SNAP quality control team and Tim Hill, a new selection protocol was introduced — drawing from the top Grade 1 lots produced at Danche and subjecting them to an intensive cupping and separation process to isolate the finest coffees of the harvest. The results have been remarkable, and this white honey lot represents the clearest expression of what that process can achieve.

Ethiopia is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of coffee, and its extraordinary biodiversity — with DNA testing confirming over 60 distinct varieties — means that most Ethiopian coffees are blends of many co-existing varieties, referred to collectively as Ethiopian Landrace. At 2,200 MASL in Gedeb, this complexity finds exceptional conditions to express itself.

THE PROCESS

The White Honey process at Danche involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Cherries selected exclusively at bright red ripeness 💧 Flotation — Floated to remove defects before processing 🔧 De-pulping — Outer skin removed as quickly as possible, with a small amount of mucilage intentionally left intact 🌑 Shaded bed drying — Dried on shaded raised beds with mucilage intact for three days until moisture content reaches approximately 10%

The intentional retention of a small amount of mucilage and the shaded drying environment are the defining steps — the mucilage contributes a subtle sweetness and body to the cup while the shaded beds slow and control the drying, protecting the delicate floral and fruit character of the Gedeb terroir from direct heat and producing the exceptional clarity that defines this lot.

THE CUP

A pristine and beautifully refined white honey from one of Ethiopia's most forward-thinking producers — delicate peach tea florality, refreshing watermelon sweetness, and a bright Key lime acidity that lingers long into the finish. A landmark expression of what Gedeb's extraordinary terroir and Neguesse's evolving quality programme can achieve together.

Flavour Notes

🍑 Peach Tea 🍉 Watermelon 🍋 Key Lime