Lalesa

Lalesa arrives out of Obadiah in Edinburgh as a sweet, fruit-forward take on Ethiopian coffee. Local smallholders farm it under natural shade trees in Gedeb, at 2,150 to 2,200 meters. They bring their cherry to Lalesa, a drying site Ephtah opened in 2023. With around 400 drying beds, it’s already the largest in Gedeb. In a black honey process, the coffee is pulped but keeps most of its sugary fruit pulp clinging to the parchment while it dries. Lalesa floats the cherries to sort out lighter fruit, rests them briefly on the beds, then pulps them and dries the coffee under shade for about 25 days. That long, shaded dry gives sugars inside the coffee’s pulp time to build up and help round out the profile. That’s where the caramel comes from, alongside ripe stone fruit. The same process tends to give Lalesa a soft, sweeter body than a washed coffee, which is what helps it hold up exceedingly well as espresso. Producer → Local Smallholders Drying Station → Lalesa (Ephtah) Location → Gedeb, Ethiopia Variety → 74110, 74112, Heirloom Altitude → 2,150–2,200 masl Process → Black Honey