Ethiopian coffees are some of the world’s finest single origins and hardly a month goes by when we don’t get sent a variety of coffee samples from this origin, hoping to secure a place in one of our coffee boxes. Over the years our senses have traveled all over this diverse African country and experienced flavours as diverse as its people.
One coffee that just keeps wowing us is the Nano Challa. Indeed, it’s so good that we already featured it in our June ’16 box, that time roasted by Vienna’s finest, CafféCouture. Little did we know that this coffee would make such a quick comeback, this time coming from Swedish superstar roasters Koppi, but during our most recent blind-tasting session back in December, this coffee just blew everyone away and we just had to pick it again.
The Nano Challa cooperative is found in the Agaro district in mid-western Ethiopia. It was founded in 2010 by a collection of 400 farmers and its strong management has ensured that, over the years, Nano Challa has produced some of the region’s finest coffees. These days, the Nano Challa can be found in all top-notch roasters’ repertoire, including Tim Wendelboe, The Barn, Parlor and even Stumptown.
The farmers bring the coffee cherries to the two washing stations where they are sorted by hand to remove under-ripe and overripe cherries. After sorting the cherries, they are pulped and soaked under water for eight hours before they are carefully rinsed until completely clean. The wastewater is filtered through Vetiver grass before it goes back into nature. The coffee is hand sorted again after being washed to remove impurities and defects and dried on raised beds for about 10 days.
This careful and strict quality controlled process ensures the coffees achieve their beautifully balanced and complex flavour profiles.
We’re incredibly proud to have this coffee back in one of our boxes and to be working again with our friends from Helsingborg.
Don’t miss out on our upcoming coffee boxes!
Every month, we feature three spectacular coffees from the likes of: La Cabra, Drop Coffee, The Barn, Parlor, The Coffee Collective, Tim Wendelboe and more.
“An absolute must-have for making great coffee” – BBC GOOD FOOD
Fascinating, thank you so much for sharing, the nano challa looks like an excellent coffee, very eager to try it! Reading your blog is always so enjoyable, it is so eye-opening to read about all these excellent coffees from all over the world, and learning about their origins and production processes really makes you have a deeper appreciation for these communities.
Thank you for your kind words!