Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Washed Worka Heirloom Specialty Coffee Beans Grind Size Roast Level Processing Method

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Yirgacheffe Worka Washed G1

Yirgacheffe Washed Worka

Country: Ethiopia

Grade: G1

Region: Worka

Roast Level: Light Roast

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: Local Heirloom

Processing Station: Worka Cooperative

Flavor Notes: Lemon, Kumquat, White Grape Juice

01 | Region Introduction

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia with an altitude of 1700-2100 meters, and it has become synonymous with premium Ethiopian coffee. This area has been wetland since ancient times. In the local language, "Yirga" means "settle down," and "Cheffe" means "wetland." Therefore, Yirgacheffe means "let us settle and make a living in this wetland."

Yirgacheffe (Premium Region): Altitude 1,800-2,000 meters | Garden Coffee System

Yirgacheffe is administratively part of the Sidamo region, but due to its unique flavor profile, it has been separated as an independent region.

In addition to the town of Yirgacheffe itself, it also includes three surrounding sub-regions: Wenago, Kochere, and Gelena Abaya.

Under Yirgacheffe, there are numerous villages, micro-regions, cooperatives, and processing stations. In most parts of Ethiopia, coffee farmers still live difficult lives and lack the capacity to build family-style processing workshops. Therefore, many processing stations emerge to centrally purchase coffee cherries from surrounding small farmers, process them, and then sell them to green bean dealers.

Coffee trees are mostly planted in farmers' backyards or intercropped with other crops on farmland. Each household's production is limited, making it typical garden coffee. Almost all award-winning Yirgacheffe beans come from the aforementioned coffee villages and communities. The so-called "Yirgacheffe flavor" refers to intense jasmine aroma, lemon or lime acidity, as well as peach, almond sweetness, or tea fragrance. The phrase "flowers bloom when coffee enters the mouth" perfectly describes this experience, akin to the pleasant sensation of flowers stimulating taste buds and olfactory cells. Beyond the floral aroma, the delicate body feels like silk massaging in the mouth—a wonderful tactile experience. Currently, many coffee scientists are studying the microclimate and soil conditions around Yirgacheffe to establish cultivation equations for specialty coffee.

Strictly speaking, Yirgacheffe is a sub-region of Ethiopia's Sidamo province, located in the northwest of Sidamo, surrounded by mountains and lakes, making it one of Ethiopia's highest-altitude coffee-producing regions. Yirgacheffe itself is a small town with about 20,000 people. The three neighboring small regions—Wenago, Kochere, and Gelena Abaya—produce coffee with flavors almost identical to Yirgacheffe, so they are also classified under the Yirgacheffe regional category. However, the production methods and flavors here are so outstanding that Ethiopian coffee farmers compete to have their coffee associated with Yirgacheffe flavor, leading to its independence from the Sidamo region and becoming Africa's most renowned coffee-producing area.

02 | Worka Cooperative

Washed Ethiopian coffee can achieve the highest G1 grade, making it quite rare to find.

This bean comes from a single farm in Ethiopia, processed by the Worka Cooperative. The Alemayehu Alako farm is a member of the Worka Cooperative.

The Worka Cooperative was established in 2005 and joined the famous Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) in the same year, known for producing high-quality natural processed Yirgacheffe coffee. The Worka Cooperative has approximately 300 coffee farmers. YCFCU was established in 2002 and includes 26 other cooperatives, serving over 45,000 coffee farmers.

Worka is located in the southeasternmost part of Yirgacheffe, in the Gedeb region. In earlier years, this area exported locally produced green coffee beans under the name Worka or had them processed by the Worka Cooperative. However, in the past two to three years, individual single-origin sources have been discovered one by one by coffee hunters worldwide, such as Banko Gotiti, Banko Dadhato, Halo Bariti, etc. Gotiti village was one of the earliest village areas to become independent several years ago. Many individual small-scale farmers were originally members of the Worka Cooperative, so their coffee production skills are naturally excellent.

The Worka Cooperative is located in the southern part of Gedeb district, established in 2005, and joined the famous Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) in the same year, known for producing high-quality natural processed Yirgacheffe coffee. The Worka Cooperative has approximately 300 coffee farmers. YCFCU was established in 2002 and includes 26 other cooperatives, serving over 45,000 coffee farmers.

03 | Processing Method

The refined processing method in the Yirgacheffe region is mostly the washed method. Coffee beans are placed in washing tanks for about 72 hours to ferment and remove the pulp. Some of the acid produced during the mucilage fermentation process enters the beans. At the same time, since the pulp and mucilage are no longer attached to the parchment during drying, it lacks the characteristic fruitiness of natural processed beans, with flavors leaning toward clean and bright, and more pronounced acidity. The drying is done directly outside the facility. After manual selection of the green beans, they undergo quality inspection by the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority and are exported through competitive bidding.

The annual production is approximately 225,000 bags (60kg per bag), previously mainly sold to Northern Europe (mainly Germany) and Japan, but recently has also been gaining attention in North America.

Coffee processed by the washed method is less likely to have wild flavors, possessing pure and refreshing characteristics, making it suitable for light roast levels. This washed Ethiopian coffee achieves the highest G1 grade, indicating very few defects.

04 | Green Bean Analysis

Heirlooms (local native varieties) is a unique term in Ethiopia, encompassing a wide variety of types including Typica, Mocha, Bourbon, etc. The Kaffa Forest is the cradle of Arabica coffee. When adding up all varieties (original or derived) from coffee-producing countries worldwide, there are only several hundred, while this treasure trove contains tens of thousands, most of which remain unclassified. Heirlooms is a term unique to Ethiopia, as if telling the world that its varieties are all-encompassing, summarized in just one word. The green beans are bluish-green in color with relatively uniform size.

African coffee beans use this defect-based grading system. Indonesian beans are mainly divided into 6 levels, namely G1-G6. The highest grades for washed beans are G1 and G2; the highest grades for natural processed beans are G1 and G3.

What does this mean? As follows:

Washed: Grade-1; Grade-2 (G1 > G2)

Natural Processed: Grade-1 and Grade-3-Grade-5 (G1 > G3 > G4 > G5)

Important Points:

a) Both washed and natural processed beans have Grade 1, with the condition being "zero" defects and Premium Cup. Whether washed or natural processed, Grade 1 is the rating for the best of the best in specialty coffee or Cup of Excellence coffee.

b) The lowest grade for natural processed Yirgacheffe and Sidamo is Grade 4.

c) Beans of the same grade, such as Limu Grade 2, can be good or bad, depending on the exporter's sorting level and investment.

d) Given the current "zero" defect requirement, Grade 1 beans (including both washed and natural processed) are extremely rare because processing costs are very high, and very few suppliers are willing to do it.

05 | Roasting Analysis

The bean density is quite hard. Roasting uses relatively high heat to climb, with the yellowing point at around 5 minutes and 30 seconds, then reduce heat and open the air damper to enter the Maillard reaction. At 160°C, reduce heat again to prolong the Maillard reaction time. First crack occurs at approximately 186.3°C. This washed bean requires reducing heat before first crack to prevent too rapid temperature rise that would cause bitterness. Drop the beans at 194.2°C after 1 minute and 40 seconds.

Roaster: Yangjia 600g semi-direct flame

Preheat the roaster to 200°C, set air damper to 3, start fire after 30 seconds, adjust heat to 160, return temperature point at 1:32, turn yellow at 5:30 seconds, grassy aroma disappears, enter dehydration stage, reduce heat to 120, open air damper to 4, reduce heat to 50 again when reaching 170°C.

After eight minutes, dehydration is complete, the bean surface shows wrinkles and black spots, toast aroma turns to coffee aroma, as a prelude to first crack. At this time, reduce heat to 40 and listen carefully for first crack sounds. First crack starts at 9:00, adjust heat to 40, fully open air damper to 5. Development time after first crack is 1 minute and 40 seconds, dropping at 194.2°C.

Flavor: This meticulously washed bean makes the acidity more obvious and delicate, presenting yellow lemon acidity, caramel sweetness, cream and lemon black tea flavors, with a floral aftertaste.

06 | Brewing Analysis

Three-stage water injection segmented extraction method

This method creates richer layers, clearly distinguishing the front, middle, and back flavor stages of the coffee. The method involves increasing water volume after each bloom, typically injecting water when the coffee level is about to drop to the powder bed surface, using small, medium, and large water flows for three-stage extraction:

Recommended Brewing Methods: Siphon, Pour-over

Grind Size: 3.5 (Japanese Fuji R440)

V60 Dripper, 15g coffee, water temperature 90°C, grind 3.5, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15

30g water for bloom, bloom time 30s

Stages: Inject water to 120g, pause, then slowly inject water to 225g

That is: 30-120-225

Other drip extraction recommendations:

French Press: Recommended grind size 3.5-4, water temperature 86-88°C

AeroPress: Recommended grind size 2.5, water temperature 86-88°C

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Washed Yirgacheffe Heirloom Worka G1 Single Origin Specialty Coffee Bean

FrontStreet Coffee's Cold Drip Recipe: Yirgacheffe Worka 30g + Costa Rica Black Honey 30g, coffee-to-water ratio 1:10, BG grind 3D (close to cupping grind size)

The black honey has orange blossom aroma, with obvious caramel and cream notes. Adding Yirgacheffe Worka makes the caramel character even more prominent, while also bringing some lemon acidity. It tastes very refreshing and perfect for enjoying a cup on hot summer days.

Important Notice :

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