Christmas is full of flavors, but what if all the best ones were packed into a single cup of coffee? Kmen Coffee Roasters’ Ethiopia Chelchele is this year’s limited-edition Christmas blend, reminiscent of a festive dessert in a slightly unexpected form. The flavor profile features juicy blueberries with a hint of liqueur, sweet rum-soaked raisins, candied lemon, and chocolate-covered dates. The overall profile is beautifully intense, rich, and sweet, with a pleasant fruity acidity that lends it freshness. And although Chelchele has an almost dessert-like character, it still retains its Ethiopian fruitiness.
Behind this festive coffee lies the story of small-scale farmers from Banko Chelchele in the Gedeb region of Yirgacheffe. The coffee trees grow in fertile red soil, and thanks to the cooler mountain climate, their berries ripen more slowly. Here, they cultivate traditional Ethiopian heirloom varieties, which are prized for their diversity and distinctive aromas. The harvest takes place from October to December, when only ripe coffee cherries are hand-picked. These are then transported to the Banko Chelchele processing station. During the harvest season, more than 210 workers are involved in its operations, and in addition to the processing itself, the station also provides farmers with job opportunities, financial support, and bonuses for high-quality crops. Behind every package, therefore, lies not only the meticulous work on the farms but also the collaboration of the entire local community.
And where does that almost Christmas-like intensity come from? Much of the credit goes to the anaerobic natural processing method, which adds a slightly different dimension to the natural fruitiness of Ethiopian coffees. After harvest, the whole coffee cherries are placed in sealed tanks without oxygen, where they ferment for approximately 5 to 10 days. During this time, aromatic compounds gradually develop, which can impart more pronounced fruity, sweet, and slightly liqueur-like notes to the final cup. Fermentation is followed by drying, during which the pulp remains around the bean and continues to influence its flavor profile. It is precisely the combination of these two steps that helps create a rich profile.
- Processing Station: Banko Chelchele
- Elevation: 1,900–2,300 m above sea level