Ethiopia Worka Chelbessa

Worka Chelbessa washing station, in Gedeb, utilizes Ethiopia's traditional method of underwater fermentation and has more recently begun experimenting with dry fermentation. This lot is a combination of both wet and dry processing. Underwater fermentation typically submerges cherries in water for 36 to 48 hours, and even longer. For dry fermentation, cherries are pulped and left to ferment unsubmerged in water for 36-48 hours. Coffee is then dried for 10-14 days on raised beds. Gedeb is the southernmost woreda (district) of the Gedeo Zone. Coffee is fairly new to this region and much of the coffee grown here is only 20-30 years old. Farms in the area tend to be slightly larger than in the northern part of Yirgacheffe, but are still relatively small - averaging around 1.5 - 2 hectares (although, a few larger farms in the 5-20 ha. range do exist).