Yirgacheffe Washed Aricha Flavor Profile and Characteristics

For professional barista knowledge, follow FrontStreet Coffee.

Yirgacheffe coffee beans fall into two main categories based on processing method:

Category A is washed coffee, graded Gr-1 and Gr-2 — the smaller the number, the higher the grade. G1 washed Yirgacheffe is instantly recognizable: citrus and floral notes woven through the cup, a deliciousness nobody can resist.

Category B is natural coffee, graded Gr-1, Gr-3, Gr-4, and Gr-5. The top grade, G1 natural Yirgacheffe, bursts with fruit aroma — opening a bag of freshly roasted G1 natural Yirgacheffe can reset everything you thought you knew about coffee. Only those who have tasted top-grade natural Yirgacheffe believe that coffee really is a fruit.

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Contact: 020-38364473
Ingredients: House-roasted
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Raw/Roasted: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Ethiopia
Roast Level: Light roast

For pouring over: 15g of coffee ground to medium-fine (Komachi grinder, Fujiyama ghost-tooth burrs, setting 3.5), a V60 dripper, water at 91-93°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour up to 105g and pause. Once the water level drops halfway, pour slowly up to 225g. Skip the tail of the brew. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, total extraction time 2:00.

Processing Method: Washed

First, farmers harvest the cherries and pour them into water-filled pools. Density varies with ripeness: overripe and underripe cherries, along with stray leaves and twigs, float to the surface, while fully ripe cherries sink. This natural float separates the cherries that pass the first test.

The selected cherries then go into a depulper to remove the skin and pulp.

Next, the beans — still coated in mucilage — enter fermentation, driven by microorganisms in water or air. Once fermentation is complete, the beans in parchment are rinsed clean in washing channels. Then comes drying, with moisture held at roughly 12%, after which the beans are packed into burlap bags and rested for about 2-3 months to stabilize. Finally, the parchment is milled off and the coffee is ready for sale.

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Aricha G1 Washed

Country: Ethiopia

Grade: G1

Region: Yirgacheffe, Gedeo

Altitude: 1900-2100 meters

Variety: Heirloom

Producer: Kebel Aricha

Flavor Notes: Sweet orange, cherry, honey sweetness

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

About Project Origin

Sasa Sestic, the 2015 World Barista Champion, launched a green bean sourcing project called Project Origin with his team at ONA Coffee. The project works directly with coffee farmers in impoverished regions, improving their production conditions and paying 20% above fair trade prices.

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

Flavor Description

Sweet citrus, green berries, peach, and longan and red-date aromas, honey sweetness, cocoa with a hint of spice, full body, and a long-lasting finish

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia's Sidama region, with coffee grown at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters — most of it above 1,800 meters, among the highest elevations in the coffee world. The area's ancient wetland soils give the coffee its signature white-floral fragrance and lemon-citrus acidity, a flavor so distinctive that in 2010 the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange separated Yirgacheffe from Sidama as its own designation.

For an approachable introduction to the region, FrontStreet Coffee recommends our Washed Yirgacheffe daily beans — white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like body at a friendly price, the classic first specialty bean for beginners. If you want to explore further, the Washed Guodingding Cooperative lot from the Worka area is processed in the most traditional washed style: no heavy bitterness, just fresh, luminous citrus and lemon wrapped in jasmine fragrance.

Curious about naturals? FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Red Cherry uses only fully ripe, defect-free cherries, dried whole on raised beds for 3 to 5 weeks and turned every 2-3 hours early on to prevent over-fermentation. Because the fruit dries on the bean, the cup keeps classic Yirgacheffe character while adding tropical fruit: citrus acidity, berry juiciness, honey sweetness, and a silky, cream-smooth texture.

Brew either on a V60 at 90-91°C with 15g of coffee at 1:15, ground to fine sugar (80% pass-through on a #20 sieve): bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, pour to 125g, then finish to 225g when the bed drains to two-thirds — done in about 2 minutes.