Alo Chilaka is a blend that delivers a powerful, fruity burst to your cup. This Ethiopian coffee from the French roastery People Possession is bold, full of ripe tropical fruit, berries, and white peach, complemented in the finish by a subtler note of black tea. The cup is sweet, juicy, and intensely fruity, with a pleasant, light tea-like quality and a clean, lively profile. The 48-hour anaerobic fermentation further emphasizes its tropical character and juiciness. People Possession aptly describes it as a real “tropical fruit bomb.”
Behind this coffee is producer Tamiru Tadesse and his Alo Coffee station, which he founded together with his wife, Messi. The lot comes from the Chilaka station in the village of Alo in the Bensa area of Sidama, one of the highest-altitude parts of the local coffee-growing region. The JARC 74158 coffee cherries here come from smallholder farmers around the station and grow at altitudes exceeding 2 ,350 meters above sea level. Tamiru is a native of Alo and, before entering the world of coffee, worked as an electrical engineer and university instructor. He founded Alo Coffee in 2020, and their very first competition lot immediately won first place at the 2021 Ethiopia Cup of Excellence. This coffee was also created as part of the T.T.M. (Tricks That Matter) project, on which People Possession is collaborating with European skate photography legend Nils Svensson. The photo on the packaging was taken on 35mm film and captures skateboarder Tobias Henriksson performing a big ollie at Teatern in Malmö. A touch of skate culture thus accompanies this exceptionally fruity Ethiopian coffee.
The cherries undergo a 48-hour anaerobic natural processing. After being hand-picked and sorted, they are sealed in oxygen-free containers, where they ferment for 48 hours. A valve allows the gases produced to escape but prevents air from entering. The cherries are then spread out on raised African drying beds and slowly dried whole, pulp and all. The relatively short anaerobic phase enhances the tropical fruitiness and sweetness without completely overshadowing the character of this high-altitude Ethiopian coffee.
- Producer: Tamiru Tadesse, Alo Coffee