Country of Origin: Ethiopia
Region: SNNPR > Gedeo > Gedeb > Danche 
Station: Danche Washing Station
Established: 2019
Producers: 763 smallholders Varieties: Dega, Wolisho
Process: Natural
Altitude: 1950 -2200 m asl
Harvest season: 2024-2025

The rich, full-bodied texture brought by the natural process evokes the sweet essence of peaches and strawberries. The fruit flavors are sweet and tart, reminiscent of fresh peaches and strawberries, with subtle sweet aromas drifting through the nose as you swallow. When enjoyed as a concentrated espresso, flavors reminiscent of high-cacao chocolate and cacao nibs become more pronounced, creating an impression of chocolate-coated fruits. The finish is gently prolonged by a delicate, tea-like florality, resulting in a refined and elegant coffee. When diluted as an Americano, the character transforms into something more tea-like and delicate.

Once again this year, wonderful coffee has arrived from Danche Washing Station. As in previous years, we have purchased multiple lots from this washing station. We'll start by offering the natural process lot.We have been continuously purchasing coffee from Danche Washing Station since 2020, the year after the station was established. Initially, it was rarely seen in Japan, but its high quality has earned a reputation, and it is now carried by many roasters in Japan.As we previously introduced in our journal, coffee as an agricultural crop has on-years and off-years. This year's Ethiopian crop is an on-year, and both yield and quality are expected to surpass last year. When we visited in January this year, Firehuh Ayakew, the washing station manager, also shared these expectations with us.

The high quality during this period indicates the maturity level of the coffee cherries. As cherries ripen slowly while accumulating nutrients, they bring an elegant and clean acidity and sweetness to the coffee as a beverage. Not all coffees exhibit a distinct fruit-like acidity.This year's natural lot has suppressed fermentation notes more than usual, resulting in a clean finish. In natural processing, cherries are dried with the pulp intact, which makes fermentation progress easily and can sometimes produce excessive fermentation aromas. However, excessive fermentation masks the coffee's inherent clean acidity and can be too punchy, causing palate fatigue.We aspire to create well-balanced coffee that invites natural, continued drinking. This year's lot, through appropriate fermentation management, achieves a transparent flavor profile while maintaining fruity, floral notes. In this sense, this year can be said to be the finest among the natural process coffees produced by Danche Washing Station.

Danche Washing Station has established contracts with 950 small-scale farmers from whom they purchase coffee cherries. All contracted farmers have obtained organic certification with the support of the washing station, so all coffee produced at this station is also certified organic.Occasionally, producers other than the contracted farmers bring in cherries, but these are processed as separate lots. "Just transporting harvested cherries is hard labor. We cannot turn away these producers," says Firehuh Ayakew.

As an environmental consideration, they have begun planting vetiver grass to purify water after processing and are actively engaged in preserving the surrounding environment. These environmentally conscious initiatives are being implemented with technical guidance from NPOs such as Technoserve.This washing station previously purchased ripe cherries daily during harvest season from 170 farmers in the surrounding area. Now, 763 small-scale farmers participate, and the scale has expanded. The farmers' coffee cultivation areas feature dense semi-forest vegetation with shade-grown conditions using banana trees and other plants, where coffee is nurtured in a healthy, organic cultivation environment in harmony with nature.