Ethiopian Washed Yirgacheffe Aricha G1 Specialty Coffee Bean: Differences, Distinctions, and Award Status

Processing Method: Washed

Happy coffee farmers first pick the cherries from the trees, then pour them into pools filled with water. Because ripeness changes a cherry's density, overripe and underripe cherries — along with stray branches and leaves — float on the surface, while fully ripe cherries sink to the bottom. This naturally screens the cherries through their first round of selection.

The selected ripe cherries then enter the depulper to remove the skin and pulp;

Next, the beans still coated with pulp and mucilage enter the fermentation stage, fermenting with microorganisms in water or in the air. Once fermentation is complete, the beans in their parchment move through washing channels to be thoroughly rinsed. After washing comes drying, which keeps the green beans' moisture content as close to 12% as possible. The beans are then packed into jute bags for a resting period of about 2-3 months to stabilize quality, and finally the parchment is removed just before sale!

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Aricha G1 Washed

Country: Ethiopia

Grade: G1

Region: Yirgacheffe Gediyo

Altitude: 1900-2100 meters

Variety: Heirloom

Producer: Kebel Aricha

Flavor: Sweet orange, cherry, honey sweetness

This Yirgacheffe lot was produced at the Kebel Aricha processing station, where roughly 650-700 smallholder farmers from the surrounding area bring their ripe cherries for processing in exchange for cash.

About Project Origin

Sasa Sestic, the 2015 World Barista Champion, started a green bean sourcing project called Project Origin three years ago with his business team at ONA Coffee. The project works directly with coffee-farming families in poor countries and regions, improving their production conditions and offering purchase prices 20% higher than fair trade rates.

The project also aims to strengthen the bond between roasters and coffee farmers and to guide growers toward producing higher-quality beans. So far, Sasa has built relationships with coffee growers in eight countries, including Brazil, Panama, India, Ethiopia, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

Flavor Description

Sweet orange citrus notes, green berries, peach, longan and red date aroma, honey sweetness, cocoa with subtle spice notes, full body, and a persistent aftertaste

Yirgacheffe Classification

Yirgacheffe falls into two main categories based on green bean processing method:

Category A: Washed processing, graded under the standards of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) into Gr-1 and Gr-2, where the smaller Arabic number indicates the higher grade. G1 washed Yirgacheffe has a distinctive style, and the citrus and floral notes woven through the cup are an irresistible delight;

Category B: Natural processing, graded as Gr-1, Gr-3, Gr-4, and Gr-5. Likewise, top-grade G1 natural Yirgacheffe has a rich fruity aroma. Opening a bag of freshly roasted G1 natural Yirgacheffe can overturn everything you thought you knew about coffee — only those who have tasted the highest grade will believe that coffee really is a fruit.

Brewing Method

Hand-poured Yirgacheffe. 15g of coffee, medium-fine grind (Fuji Ryogiri grinder at setting 3.5), V60 dripper, water temperature 91-93°C. First pour 30g of water and let it bloom for 27 seconds, then pour to 105g and stop. Once the water level in the coffee bed drops to half, resume pouring, slowly, up to 225g total. Avoid the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Product Information

Ingredients: House-roasted

Shelf Life: 90 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk coffee beans

Roast Level: Roasted beans

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Origin: Ethiopia

Roast Degree: Light roast

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia's southern Sidamo province at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters, with coffee planted above 1,800 meters — some of the highest coffee elevations in the world. Its unmistakable white floral fragrance and lemon-citrus acidity turned the town's name into a byword for Ethiopian specialty coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe house lot delivers exactly that profile, and at a friendly price it has become the go-to first bean for anyone stepping into specialty coffee.

Brew it FrontStreet's way: a V60 with 90-91°C water, 15g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio, a fine-sugar grind (80% pass through a #20 sieve), and a three-stage pour — 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, 95g more to reach about 125g on the scale by the one-minute mark, then a final 100g to about 225g at around 1:35, with drawdown completing between 2:00 and 2:10.