This exceptional microlot comes from Danche Station, SNAP Coffee’s main base in Gedeb, Yirgacheffe. The coffee was grown by 810 smallholder producers from the villages of Danche and Kubi, where mixed Ethiopian heirloom and landrace varieties flourish at approximately 2,100 metres above sea level. The farms are set in a semi-forested landscape with rich, fertile red soil, and the cherries are harvested between November and January.
Danche also serves as a field laboratory for SNAP processing technician Frew, who develops some of the producer’s most innovative coffees. For this Hydro Honey lot, only ripe cherries measuring above 20° Brix were selected before being carefully sorted and floated. They were shade-dried for 48 hours, then placed in barrels prepared by washing and smoking them with olive-tree wood and honey residue. The cherries underwent 48 hours of aerobic fermentation followed by 48 hours submerged in an anaerobic environment. After 96 hours of fermentation, the coffee was slowly shade-dried in the cherry for approximately 25 days.
This creative process produces a distinctive and expressive coffee while demonstrating how thoughtful experimentation can add value at origin. The lot was produced by SNAP Coffee, founded in Addis Ababa in 2008. Across its washing stations, SNAP focuses on consistency, education, and sustainability, supporting farmers through training in nursery and land management, crop diversification, intercropping, and climate-smart agriculture.
The Danche Hydro Honey is an exciting expression of Yirgacheffe: a coffee shaped by high elevations, dedicated smallholder farmers, and a bold approach to fermentation.
