Ethiopia Lalesa Espresso

Tasting notes: Creamy and winey with a sweetly integrated cherry and grape brightness.

Coffee breakdown:
Origin: Yirgacheffe, Lalesa town, Gedeb woreda, Gedeo Zone, SNNPR region, Ethiopia
Variety: Kurume
Process: Washed
Producer: Alemayehu Tilahun
Altitude: 2150 m

This coffee is from the heavily populated Gedeo zone of what is known as the “Yirgacheffe” region by the coffee trade. It comes to us from a washing station owned by Alemayehu Tilahun, located near the town (kebele) of Lalesa, in the booming Gedeb woreda, Gedeo zone, SNNPR. The mill was built in 2019, and is nestled into the dense, shade-forested area.

Alemayehu is from the area, and has been working in coffee for two decades- he was one of the national winners of the Cup of Excellence in 2020! In addition to the 684 smallholder farmers contributing cherry to the station, Alemayehu himself also has a farm of 15 hectares at an altitude of 2,150 meters. He has cultivated strong relationships with farmers in the area, and they trust him when delivering their cherries.

The station is located in a region that has pretty perfect weather conditions for growing, drying and processing coffee (truly- we’ve scarcely ever seen better soil health, plant and cultivar selection, health, cherry maturation and a more ideal overall climate in our travels).

Gedeb Woreda is known for its dense, layered semi-forest vegetation structure including banana trees and shade-grown coffee, and it’s a great example of coffee growing agro-ecology in Ethiopia.