Danche red honey
Sweet orange, appricot, florals and caramel!
Growers: 705 farmers organized around Tracon Coffee
Region: Worka, Chelchele, Ethiopia
Varieties: Kurume, Dega, Wolisho
Process: red honey process
Elevation: 1944 masl
Brewing: see below
Rest: Two weeks minimum from roast date
This coffee lies between what you would expect from a bright washed Ethiopian and a fruity natural process. It is very unusual to have this processing method with Ethiopian coffees and the results are excellent! The coffee is delicate, sweet and very versatile. We brew it on filter and drip and as espresso, either black or as a flat white/cappuccino.
This red honey process coffee from Danche in the Gedeo zone is a tantalizing alternative process Ethiopia that brings together the floral and citrus of washed coffee and with a voluminous in-season stone fruit juiciness. Not quite the berry bombs we associate with natural processed coffees, nor the punchy funkiness of anaerobic coffees, this red honey hits the sweet spot of a coffee with heaps of both fruit and florals. In contrast to the white honey process, this red honey sees a larger percentage of mucilage remain on the seed after de-pulping, with less frequent turning and slower drying times.
By Chris Kornman and Joshua Wismans:
"Sourcing coffee from Ethiopia, perhaps more so than anywhere else in the world, is a collaborative effort. With something like 95% of the coffee trees cultivated in the country under the husbandry of smallholder farmers, it literally takes a village to raise enough coffee cherry to export. The washing station (even in the case of minimal intervention naturals) is the local hub for most specialty coffee in the country. While farming families may dry coffee cherries on their patios or lawns to be roasted and enjoyed at home, export grade specialty coffee almost always requires centralized infrastructure.
In this case, that infrastructure—including logistics and farmer support strategies—is provided by Tracon Coffee, a 30+ year veteran organization of the coffee industry, and our trusted supply partner. Tracon’s interests extend from farm and washing station ownership and management to running a dedicated cupping lab and a 30,000 square foot coffee processing facility that allows them to mill and finish coffee for export on-demand."