Ethiopia

Nano Chala

Washed process 1274, Ethiopian Heirloom

Flavour: tropical fruit, bergamot, cola

Nano Chala is a relatively new cooperative, established in 2010. Located in an area that’s building a reputation for coffees with spicy and intense flavours.

The cooperative’s management has focused on quality production from the start. A lot of the coffees are grown at altitudes of 2000 metres or higher, which reduces the yield from each plant but gives more intense flavours in the remaining coffee cherries.

Waste water from coffee production is naturally filtered using grasses before it goes to storage pits, and then finally in to the ground.

A success story

This coffee is a result of a project with Technoserve, a nonprofit organisation that develops business solutions to poverty by connecting people in the developing world with information, capital and markets.

Working with Technoserve in 2010, the Nano Chala Cooperative was formed and purchased a wet mill with a depulping machine, producing washed coffee for the first time. In their first year they were able to pay off this debt, and have now purchased another depulper to increase capacity.

The higher quality coffee brings better prices, which are returned back to the farmers, encouraging more farmers to join the cooperative. They remain free of long term debt due to the high premium earned by their coffee’s quality.

With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a project helping Ethiopian coffee farmers started in 2007. It aims to create a mutually beneficial relationship where private exporters provide ongoing support and training to rural coffee processing stations known as wet mill cooperatives. With such relationships in place, donors are able to then leave once a sustainable system can continue without their support.

Technoserve establishes a farmer training program, known as “farm college,” which educates smallholder coffee farmers on sustainable agronomic practices to increase their yield. It also provides business support to farmer cooperatives to establish or upgrade low-cost rural coffee processing stations known as wet mills, and improve coffee quality.

The project in Ethiopia supported farmers in setting up washing stations and new cooperatives. They had first significant success with the Duromina cooperative, in the same region as Nano Chala, was recognised by Taste of Harvest as the best coffee in Africa in 2012’s harvest.

The nonprofit’s management team emphasise data and performance monitoring, which allowed TechnoServe to estimate the return on investment from the initiative: their early work in Rwanda reached a positive return over ten years. What they learned in Rwanda allowed the project in Ethiopia to deliver returns more quickly, breaking even within four years.

Read more about Technoserve’s work in Ethiopia from NPR, or in this detailed ROI study of the Coffee Initiative.

You can also watch a (detailed) video about Technoserve from a presentation at Google, or make a donation to Technoserve.

Learn everything about this coffee:

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Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

• Dose: 20g ground coffee
• Yield: 60g espresso
• Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

• Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
• Labels: recyclable
• Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
• Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

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Our packaging

Producer

Nano Chala Cooperative

Country

Ethiopia

Region

Agaro, Jimma

Altitude

2000m above sea level

Varieties

1274, Ethiopian Heirloom

Process

washed

Harvested

December 2014

Importer

Silo / Nordic Approach

Body

Light

Acidity

Bright

Tasting notes

Tropical fruit, bergamot, cola

Roast style

Omni (filter + espresso)