ETHIOPIA Kello Lalesa – Filter

Kelloo Lalesa is a washed lot from Lalesa in Gedeb, Gedeo, produced by Alemayehu Tilahun and Origin Land Coffee at Lalesa Washing Station. It comes from cherries delivered by local farmers in the surrounding area and is processed at 2150 masl. The cup is round, balanced, and complex, with baked apple, peach jam, orange, biscuit, jasmine, plum, rosehip, red currant, and black tea in the profile.

 

Lalesa is known for dense layered semi forest vegetation, with false banana trees and shade grown coffee shaping the growing environment. Alemayehu Tilahun, a native of the Gedeo Zone, built the wet mill in 2018 so he could buy red cherries from nearby farmers, and the station is now vertically integrated with Origin Land Coffee. The Kelloo name is used by the team for coffees that lean toward yellow tropical fruit, florals, peach, and stone fruit, which fits this lot closely.

 

At the station, cherries are hand sorted, pulped on a traditional Agaarde Disc Pulper, fermented under water for about 72 hours, then graded again in channels before the parchment is soaked and dried on raised beds for roughly 8 to 20 days.

Sourced from the Gedeb district within the Gedeo zone, this Ethiopia Kello Lalesa lot represents the meticulous work of producer Alemayehu Tilahun and Origin Land Coffee. Grown at 2150 masl, the coffee undergoes a washed process, a technique often favored for highlighting the inherent clarity and acidity of high-elevation Ethiopian heirloom varieties. You can learn more about how these processing methods influence the final cup profile in our guide.

Roasted by Five Elephant, this selection showcases a complex, fruit-forward character that spans from stone fruits like peach and plum to delicate floral notes of jasmine and rosehip. When evaluating such nuanced profiles, it is helpful to reference a flavor wheel to identify the subtle interplay between the bright red currant acidity and the grounding biscuit finish. For those interested in the broader terroir of this famous Ethiopian region, this coffee serves as a quintessential example of the elegance found in Gedeo-grown harvests.