Amber honey sweetness opens up to fruited flavors of orange marmalade, unsulfured apricot, peach tea, along with hints of wood spice, tenadam herb, and lemon balm.
The Nano Challa Cooperative is part of an initiative that Sweet Maria’s team have in Ethiopia to work direct at the coop level. The name Nano Challa refers to a local mythic tale about a challenge to become King of Jimma, and the coop adopted it to signify their desire to be a strong cooperative. Indeed, many coops in the West of Ethiopia have struggled to find good buyers who will pay enough for the coffee, to manage their own debts, and from internal struggles and graft. Nano Challa was formed as part of an initiative to aid farmers in a more comprehensive way. The program was administered by a non-government organization that not only coordinates agronomists and managers for each of the coops they work with, but also has a business adviser assigned that helps the cooperative manage their debt, re-invest in quality improvements at the mill, and verifies distribution of income to all members.
They’ve since “graduated” from this program, and are now part of an independent, local Union who assist the cooperatives with functions like marketing, exporting, and general representation on an international scale. Nano Challa is a smaller cooperative coffee mill near Gera town in the Agaro area, Western Ethiopia. (The area also has some of the finest honey available in Ethiopia). This is from a collection site 2km from the original Nano Challa station called “Genji Challa”. Being so close, they extend their farmer reach some, but also buy from many of the same coop members (deliveries can be made to either). The farms are at altitudes between 1900 to 2100 meters, planted in old regional varieties of coffee.
Nano Challa produces such sweet smells when ground up, like ginger snap cookie sweetened with molasses, along with a subtle note of orange peel. The wet aroma has a strong smells of fresh caramel, crisp brûlée topping, and highlights of peach and floral jasmine mark the steam. The underlying sweetness in the brewed coffee has flavor aspects of amber honey, and along with stone fruit accent notes, adds a floral aromatic impression in the nose. The compact sweetness opens up to fruited flavors like marmalade, dried unsulfured apricot, and peach tea.
- Origin: Ethiopia
- Region: Gera, Jimma
- Co-op: Nano Challa Cooperative
- Altitude: 1900-2100m
- Cultivar: Heirloom
- Processing: Wet Process (Washed)
- Drying: Raised Bed Sun-Dried
- Grade: Grade 1
- Sourcing: Sweet Maria’s