Yirgacheffe Coffee Region Chelelektu Cultivation Conditions Regional Story Flavor Characteristics

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Yirgacheffe has numerous washing stations that process coffee cherries from nearby small farmers, and the coffee produced is often stunning, like a secluded orchid in deep mountains. Chelelektu is one of these.

The Chelelektu washing station is located on a hillside surrounded by jungle. Without careful attention, you would hardly notice its presence. Local farmers bring their coffee cherries for processing. Their coffee grows at very high altitudes, between 1,700 and 2,100 meters. The mucilage attached to the cherries undergoes traditional fermentation, then it's washed in channels with clean spring water. Next, the beans are placed on African raised beds for natural drying, and finally, defective beans are manually sorted.

Chelelektu's flavor profile is widely considered the classic Yirgacheffe style, representing some of the finest coffee produced on the African continent.

Geographic Location

Chelelektu is a village in the Kochere sub-region, which is one of the most renowned areas within the Yirgacheffe region. It's actually a rather large village. According to international purchasing agents: "Chelelektu is located about 18 kilometers in a straight line southwest of Yirgacheffe. Starting from Yirgacheffe at an altitude of about 1,800 meters and heading south, the elevation continuously rises. At a three-way intersection, taking the right leads toward Chelelektu, while going left to the southeast will take you to Gedeb and Worka."

Since Chelelektu is a large settlement, many coffee lots bear its name. This particular coffee comes from the Mestawot Asefa washing station, located north of the town center. Generally speaking, the natural processing methods at Chelelektu washing stations are considered quite meticulous throughout the Yirgacheffe region. The thickness of coffee cherry piles on drying racks is carefully controlled, and different breathable materials are used as the base layer for the drying beds during various drying stages. During the drying process, defective and underripe beans are intensively hand-sorted. What's particularly special is that Chelelektu washing stations use movable drying racks that can be repositioned according to sunlight and weather conditions to adjust the natural drying schedule. With 15 to 21 days of continuous careful attention during post-processing, the result is consistently high-quality, beautifully colored dried cherries.

The Kochere Region

Before discussing Chelelektu, it's essential to first talk about the Kochere region (note: domestic industry commonly uses the incorrect phonetic translation "Kochere").

Under the ECX (Ethiopian Commodity Exchange) regional classification system, Kochere is one of Yirgacheffe's four sub-regions (Yirgacheffe, Wenago, Gelena Abaya, and Kochere). Administratively, the Kochere region covers two Woredas: Kochere Woreda itself and Gedeb Woreda. Kochere and Gedeb form the two main pillars in the southern part of the greater Yirgacheffe region—west and east respectively. Since Gedeb was historically independent from Kochere Woreda, it's not surprising that they're classified under the same region. Sometimes we treat Gedeb as an independent micro-region, and notably, Worka Kebele within Gedeb Woreda has been gaining prominence and is gradually being recognized independently.

Today's Kochere region's largest town/village/settlement is Chelelektu, located about 18 kilometers in a straight line southwest of Yirgacheffe town. Starting from Yirgacheffe town and heading south, the elevation gradually increases (at the intersection where one would turn left toward the Oromia Region's Guji zone, the altitude even reaches 2,450 meters). Under clear skies, the journey upward continues—though bumpy, it's quite exhilarating.

Chelelektu is a rather large settlement, hardly inferior to Yirgacheffe town itself. Many coffee lots bear the Chelelektu name, as processing plants near Chelelektu might all be called Chelelektu. In fact, there are two processing plants in Chelelektu town, but this year we didn't find any batches we particularly liked. The one we're introducing this time is the Mestawot Asefa processing plant, located somewhat farther north from the town center, even further than the Beloya processing plant.

Visit and Processing Experience

During the first cupping session in the capital this year, our team was deeply impressed by the flavors from this processing plant and listed it as a must-visit. We left our Yirgacheffe hotel early in the morning around 7 AM, visited two processing plants first, then headed toward Chelelektu. Yirgacheffe town is at about 1,800 meters altitude, and heading south shows a trend of increasing elevation (at the intersection where one would turn left toward the Oromia Region's Guji zone, the altitude even reaches 2,450 meters). Under clear skies, the journey upward continues—though bumpy, it's quite exhilarating.

The terrain of the Chelelektu washing station is somewhat similar to the Aricha/Idido we've introduced before, spanning across both slopes of a stream valley. The entrance (west side of the aerial photo) is at higher ground, then goes downhill as you proceed forward. After crossing the small stream, the drying beds rise again along the slope.

The natural processing method at the Chelelektu washing station is meticulous and refined, which explains why it stood out during the capital's cupping session. The thickness of coffee cherry piles on the drying racks is carefully controlled (Figure 4), different breathable materials are used as the base layer for drying beds during various drying stages (Figures 5 and 4), and defective and underripe beans are intensively hand-sorted during the drying process (Figure 6). Additionally, the Chelelektu washing station uses movable drying racks (Figure 7) that can be repositioned according to sunlight and weather conditions to adjust the natural drying schedule. The result of 15 to 21 days of continuous careful attention is the beautifully uniform-colored dried cherries seen in the photos (Figure 8)—which is what we have in this cup: high-altitude, crisp jasmine floral notes with passionate, rich blended fruit juice and wine-like aromas—a captivating natural Yirgacheffe!

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