Heleanna's Black Honey

This lot, part of our direct trade initiative with Heleanna Georgalis since 2016, is the result of this producer's dedication to producing the best coffee possible through her own personal learning process. Her commitment to caring for her harvest is so profound that some aspects of her lot processes are closely guarded secrets.

Sheka is located in Ethiopia's last indigenous forest, a biodiversity hotspot that Heleanna and her team are committed to protecting, offering alternatives to deforestation, and improving the quality of life for local farmers. In this region, they harvest, process, and brew their own coffee. Single-estate lots are still rare in Ethiopia, making sharing this innovative lot from the Heleanna team a privilege.

The honey process is a hybrid of the washed and natural processes. In this method, coffee cherries are initially pulped to remove the skin and pulp, but some of the mucilage around the bean is retained. After a controlled fermentation, the coffee beans are dried for weeks, stirring the cherries up to three times a day.