Brew Guide:
Best Brewed with: Filter
Lightest Influence: We're pushing the edge of our style - chasing the peak of florals, but not so light that we're actually muting acidity from lack of development. We definitely recommend resting this coffee - it'll pay off!
Best Rested: 3-4 weeks (atleast)
Filter: 60g/L, 96°C when fresh but when well rested you can go down to 92-93°C
Espresso: 18g/48g/20-23s. Can also work as a turbo/soup
We’re tasting: Bergamot zest, honey and soft florals lead the aroma. In the cup it's earl grey with lemon & honey, supported by ripe stone fruit (nectarine & apricot). There's a hint of tropicality - melon, mango as well as orange. As it cools, becoming more like lemon iced tea, with soft meadow florals throughout.
Traceability
Country of Origin: |
Ethiopia |
Region: |
Worka Chelbesa, Gedeb, Gedeo (SNNPR) |
Producer: |
Negusse Debela, 600 smallholders selling cherry to SNAP Coffee |
Station: |
SNAP Danche washing station |
Variety: |
Primarily Wolisho & Dega (local landraces), alongside JARC cultivars. |
Elevation: |
1900 - 2300 MASL, station at 2100 MASL |
Process: |
Traditional Washed: Ripe cherries picked and delivered to Danche. Cherries floated to remove underripes and debris before pulping. Parchment wet fermented for up to 72 hours in ceramic tanks (temperature dependent) before washing through grading channels. The coffee is finished with a final 2 hour soak before moving to the beds for 10 days of controlled drying. |
Import Partner: |
Ally Coffee via SNAP |
Harvest |
Crop 24/25 Arrived UK: 15/07/25; Second year working with coffees from Chelbasa & SNAP |
The Story
Negusse Debela spent years building a successful computer parts import business in Addis Ababa, establishing himself as a successful technology entrepreneur in Ethiopia's capital. A business trip to Minnesota in the mid-2000s changed everything. Trying pourover coffee at a local café became a catalyst for recognising the untapped potential in his homeland's most famous export. Many speciality coffee professionals first fell in love with this industry by trying Ethiopian coffee - it seems even those who grew up immersed in it were not immune it its charms!
Springboarding off the back of that experience, in 2008 Negusse founded SNAP Specialty Coffee with a clear mandate: to position Ethiopian coffee at the highest international standards. Rather than rushing into operations, he spent considerable time touring coffee processing sites across southern Ethiopia, studying farming practices and processing methodologies. This methodical approach to understanding the industry became the foundation for SNAP's operational philosophy. The company initially focused on partnerships and management of existing facilities before making strategic investments in infrastructure. In 2017, Negusse established his first proprietary washing station in Worka Chelbesa, in the Gedeb woreda.
When Negusse Debela established SNAP, Gedeb remained peripheral to Ethiopia's established coffee regions. Commercial cultivation in Gedeb only began during the 1990s, distinguishing it from generational production areas like Yirgacheffe and Sidama.
Higher altitude regions including Gedeb have gained viability as traditional growing areas face climatic pressure, with farms in the newly opened areas planting the improved cultivars from Ethiopia's Jimma Agricultural Research Centre rather than traditional landrace varieties.
SNAP's established their operational standards in Chelbesa - with a particular focus on ceramic fermentation tanks rather than concrete, precise ferment timings and controlled drying protocols. When demand exceeded the capacity that single station could output, SNAP purchased the Danche facility in 2019 rather than expanding the original site.
Danche has developed a cult reputation globally - incredibly consistency year after year, with laser clean washed lots that demonstrate the best of the Gedeb profile
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