Red Honey Kurume & Dega

Konga Washing Station

Konga Washing Station sits at 2,000 m.a.s.l. in the Gedeo zone of Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia. More than 400 smallholder producers deliver cherry to the station from the surrounding kebeles of Koke, Konga, Udessaa, and Birbirsa Kala, most farming small plots of heirloom coffee gardens. Cherry from these contributing farmers is combined at the station and separated by processing method and quality grade. Konga's lot separation and processing consistency have made it a known source for clean, well-defined Yirgacheffe coffee that lets the region's mixed heirloom character come through in the cup.

Kurume & Dega

Kurume originates from southern Ethiopia, particularly the Gedeo/Yirgacheffe and Guji coffee-growing areas. It is generally considered an Ethiopian landrace or locally selected population, rather than a formally bred variety.

The name therefore does not refer to a variety developed through a conventional breeding program. Instead, Kurume represents a population of coffee plants that has evolved and been selected locally over generations.

Dega

Dega is also native to southern Ethiopia, particularly areas of Gedeo and Guji.

The word “Dega” (ደጋ) comes from Amharic and refers to a cool, high-altitude climatic zone. The name therefore has a strong connection to the environment in which this coffee is traditionally grown.

Like Kurume, Dega is best understood as a local landrace/population, rather than a genetically uniform, formally bred cultivar. Individual plants identified as Dega can therefore still have considerable genetic diversity.

After depulping, the cherry skin is removed but a substantial portion of the sticky mucilage — the "honey" – is left intact on the parchment during drying. Red Honey sits further along the mucilage spectrum than Yellow Honey, with the coffee dried under more shade to slow moisture loss and extend contact between bean and fruit sugars. This slower, more shaded drying period allows for lightly fermented, jammier fruit notes to develop alongside a fuller body and more moderate acidity than a fully washed coffee. The result sits between washed and natural — cleaner than a natural, sweeter and more textured than a washed.

This Red Honey begins with rigorous selection: only cherries scoring >20° Brix on a refractometer are chosen, floated, and sorted. These cherries undergo 24 hours of aerobic fermentation followed by 24 hours of anaerobic fermentation, then depulped and dried on shaded raised beds for 15 days, depending on the weather.