Danche

Chelbesa is the largest coffee growing area in the Gedeb district, with a total of 1,240 hectares of farms. Established in 2019 by coffee exporter SNAP Specialty Coffee, the Danche washing station processes coffee cherries from surrounding smallholders to a high standard. Quality is also evident in details such as the tiling of the fermentation tanks, as clean tanks produce consistently cleaner tasting coffees. The coffee cherries arriving at the station are hand-sorted and placed in fermentation tanks for 36-48 hours, depending on weather conditions, where wild yeast strains and bacteria specific to the environment take care of the fermentation. Fermentation is followed by washing and sorting in channels, after which the coffee beans are dried on raised beds for 12-15 days.