SEPTEMBER - Danche | Ethiopia - Hydro Honey - Dega, Wolisho

In the cup we taste fresh mixed berries like blueberries and raspberries, tropical fruits reminiscent of guava and melon, and juicy citrus like tangerines. This coffee is incredibly complex with a light, silky body and a sweet finish.

Danche is one of the finest coffee producing areas within the Gedeb Zone. It’s known for its dense, shaded, and layered vegetational structure. In 2019, SNAP Specialty Coffee built a new wet mill in a small hamlet called Chelbesa, located in the Danche Village. The wet mill was built with the hope of connecting to local producers, ensuring their red cherries could be purchased directly. Since then, SNAP’s ambition has become a reality and local producers regularly utilize their wet mill for coffee processing, resulting in incredible lots like this Hydro Honey.

Processing

Hydro Honey is a newer hybrid process that combines anaerobic and aerobic processing with a specialized secondary drying period. After picking, cherries are dried for 48 hours on shaded drying beds, similar to a natural process. They are then placed in a tank filled with water for a 48 hour fermentation process, split between 24 of aerobic fermentation and 24 hours of anaerobic fermentation. The cherries are then de-pulped and placed on shaded drying beds for approximately 25 days, similar to a honey process. Hydro Honey can also be seen as a hybrid between a natural and honey processing, where a special preparation is carried out between the initial drying and the honey drying.

Variety

This particular lot has Wolisho and Dega varietals which stem from Ethiopian Heirlooms. Heirloom is an umbrella term that refers to all the coffee varietals endemic to Ethiopia. Believed to be the birthplace of coffee, the trees have been growing and cross-breeding for centuries in this country. As a result, there are now numerous sub-varietals with some common genetics but slightly different behaviour and taste. In the last few decades, there has been an organized effort to research and identify different endemic varietals growing in Ethiopia by name, disease resilience, and yield production.