lalesa natural ethiopia

This coffee is an excellent daily driver, perfect for espresso.

farm/s: ephtah

variety: heirloom 

alt: 2200 masl

process: anaerobic natural 

region: lalesa, gedeb

cup profile: papaya - brown sugar - rum

This anaerobic lot comes from Lalesa, in Gedeb woreda, and is processed at an Ephtah-owned site. Ephtah purchased the land in July 2023, before building the warehouse and drying beds in September 2023. The site sits at approximately 2,150 to 2,200 metres above sea level and is the largest drying site in Gedeb. Coffee in the area is naturally grown under shade trees, mainly Ensete, also known as false banana. The lot is made up of local heirloom cultivars and is harvested between December and January.

Ephtah Specialty Coffee works to build sustainable and collaborative supply chains across Ethiopia, with a focus on quality, long-term relationships and support for producer communities. At Lalesa, farmers receive an initial payment as soon as their coffee is received at the site. Ephtah also supports social initiatives in the area, including a daycare centre for farmers’ children in Gedeb. Some women farmers in the area are part of Ephtah’s Ama Commitment scheme, which supports the role of women in coffee production and producer communities.

For this anaerobic process, the coffee is fermented in plastic barrels for nine days. It is then dried for around 13 to 18 days before being stored in the site warehouse and moved to Addis Ababa when ready. The processing approach is chosen to maximise quality, with controlled fermentation, careful drying and stable storage supporting consistency and flavour development.

The Lalesa site covers approximately 3.5 hectares and has around 400 drying beds. It employs seven permanent staff and around 130 seasonal workers during the harvest period. In addition to coffee, farmers in the area also produce Ensete, or false banana, which is an important staple crop in the region.

Once prepared, the coffee is transported to Addis Ababa, where it is stored at Moplaco in Gerji. It is then processed for export and moved by train to Djibouti before shipment.

The wider Gedeb area is one of Ethiopia’s best-known coffee-producing regions and is closely associated with high-quality washed, natural and experimental processed coffees. The local community is predominantly Christian Protestant, with some Orthodox Christian communities also present, and Gedeoiniya is the main local language. Enset remains an important staple food crop, and the Siqe River marks a local boundary between Gedeo, Guji and neighbouring administrative regions.

One of the main challenges for this crop cycle has been the high price of cherry, alongside tighter access to finance linked to the National Bank of Ethiopia’s credit cap policy. Despite these constraints, Ephtah continues to invest in quality, infrastructure and farmer support at Lalesa. Future plans include expanding the Ama Commitment scheme, building a water tank for flotation to support the removal of quakers, increasing the number of drying beds, and cultivating additional crops on Ephtah’s land for local people to grow and sell in the local market.

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