Made up of cherries delivered by local farmers, this coffee is processed at the Alemayehu Tilahun Washing Station in Lalesa, Gedeo.
Alemayehu, a native to the Gedeo Zone, has been working with coffee for almost 20 years. He built his wet mill in 2018, with the hope of purchasing red cherries exclusively from the nearby farmers of Lalesa. He attributes his success to the relationships he has cultivated within the community & farmers surrounding his washing station.
The wet mill is now vertically integrated with Abenezer Asfaw’s Origin Land Coffee.
Lalesa is one of the finest coffee producing areas in Gedeo. Known for its dense layered semi forest vegetation structure, including “false banana” trees and shade grown coffee trees, Lalesa is a great example of best practices in coffee growing agroecology.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
The cherries are collected manually and hand sorted later. They are placed directly in the hopper that is connected to the pulping machine (a traditional Agaarde Disc Pulper). The coffee flows from the hopper down to the pulper, and the pulper removes the skin and pulp. The machine is designed to conduct grading of high and low quality (1st and 2nd), based on density.
The coffee is then fermented under water in tanks for an average of 72 hours, but any time frame between 48 – 100 hours is within the norm. The coffee is graded again in channels, so that the cherries of lower quality (with a lower density) will float. They are removed, leaving the denser, higher quality beans to be separated as higher-grade lots.
The parchment is soaked in clean water and then dried on raised beds for approximately 8 – 20 days. The coffee is dried in layers of 2-8 cm, depending on the climate, the type of tables, and the stage of drying.
Naming
To effectively categorise our Ethiopian coffees, our team created a “flavour wheel”, where we have allocated different flavour profiles to colours.
This coffee falls into the “Kelloo” flavour profile. Kelloo means «yellow» in the Oromiffa language. This concept represents coffee that tastes like yellow tropical fruit, florals, peach, and stone fruit.
Origin Land Coffee
Abenezer Asfaw established Origin Land Coffee in 2022, together with Mikyas Alemu. With extensive experience in supply chain management within the Ethiopian specialty coffee sector, Origin Coffee Land prioritises transparency and fostering strong relationships with farmers and washing stations. Their operations span across various regions, including Guji, Sidama, Yirgacheffe, West Arsi, and Gedeb, collaborating closely with producers and wet mills.
