The Proper Way to Enjoy Yirgacheffe Natural Aricha G1 & Yirgacheffe Coffee Bean Prices

For professional baristas: the details below are worth knowing before you dial in this coffee.

About This Batch

This batch of Yirgacheffe was produced at the Kebel Aricha washing station, where roughly 650-700 smallholder farmers from the surrounding area deliver their ripe cherries and are paid in cash. Once the station has sorted out the usable cherries, they go straight onto raised African beds to dry in the sun. For the first few days the cherries are turned every two to three hours to prevent over-fermentation. After four to six weeks of natural processing, workers remove the dried outer fruit by machine, adjusting the timing to the weather and temperature, and the beans are then trucked to Addis Ababa for storage. Natural-processed lots are usually kept in parchment until just before export so the green coffee stays in peak condition. This Aricha has been graded G1, the highest grade the ECX awards. From the look, consistency, and freshness of the green beans to the dry aroma and the cup itself, everything about it is exceptional. If you love bright acidity and layered berry flavors, this is one you should not pass up.

Yirgacheffe Classification

Yirgacheffe coffees fall into two broad categories, divided by processing method:

Category A: Washed coffees, graded against the standards of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) as Gr-1 and Gr-2. The smaller the number, the higher the grade. G1 washed Yirgacheffe has a signature style, with citrus and floral notes woven through the liquid, and it is the kind of cup almost everyone finds irresistible.

Category B: Natural-processed beans, graded Gr-1, Gr-3, Gr-4, and Gr-5. Here too G1 is the top tier, and the top-tier naturals are intensely fruity. Opening a bag of freshly roasted G1 natural Yirgacheffe can genuinely reset your idea of what coffee is. Only after tasting the highest grade of natural Yirgacheffe will you believe that coffee really is a fruit.

Brewing Method

Hand-pour natural Yirgacheffe Aricha: 15g of coffee, medium-fine grind (Fuji Royal burr grinder at setting 3.5), V60 dripper, water at 90-92°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and pause. Wait until the water level drops halfway down the bed before resuming. Pour slowly to 225g in total, discarding the tail end. Brew ratio 1:15, total extraction time 2:00.

Origin and Terroir

Yirgacheffe's coffee trees were originally cultivated by European monks, in much the same spirit as Belgian monks growing barley to brew beer, before farmers and cooperatives took over. What we call Yirgacheffe is really a constellation of surrounding coffee communities and cooperatives, among them Idido near Misty Valley, Harfusa, Hama, and Beloya. Most of the coffee is washed, but some exceptional lots are deliberately processed as naturals to build a more seductive fruit aroma and body. These mountain villages sit under near-constant mist and enjoy spring-like weather all year: summers bring gentle breezes that are cool without being hot and rainy without being sticky, while winters pass without frost. That environment nurtures the region's signature citrus-and-floral profile. The trees are mostly planted in farmers' backyards or intercropped with other crops, and each household's output is small, which makes this a pastoral coffee in the truest sense. Almost every award-winning Yirgacheffe comes from a handful of these villages and communities.

Coffee Details

• Processing Method: Natural
• Name: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Aricha G1
• Country: Ethiopia
• Grade: G1
• Region: Yirgacheffe, Gediyo
• Altitude: 1,900-2,100 meters
• Variety: Heirloom
• Producer: Kebel Aricha
• Flavor Notes: Light fermented wine aroma, sweet citrus, spices, honey sweetness

About Project Origin

Sasa Sestic, the 2015 World Barista Champion, launched a green coffee sourcing project called Project Origin three years ago with his business team at ONA Coffee. The project works directly with coffee-growing families in poor countries and regions to improve their production conditions, and it pays them 20% above fair trade prices.

The project was also designed to strengthen the relationship between roasters and farmers and to guide growers toward producing high-quality coffee. To date Sasa has built relationships with growers in eight countries, including Brazil, Panama, India, Ethiopia, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

Flavor Profile

A light fermented wine aroma, date and jujube, sweet citrus, dark berries, lychee, starfruit, peach, juicy peach, longan, and red date on the nose, with honey sweetness and cocoa underscored by a hint of spice. Full-bodied with a long, persistent finish.

Product Information

• Manufacturer: Coffee Workshop FrontStreet Coffee
• Address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
• Contact: 020-38364473
• Ingredients: House roasted
• Shelf Life: 30 days
• Net Weight: 227g
• Packaging: Bulk
• Taste Profile: Acidic coffee beans
• Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans
• Sugar Content: Sugar-free
• Origin: Ethiopia
• Coffee Type: Yirgacheffe
• Roast Degree: Light roast

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the natural side of Yirgacheffe is what you are after, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Red Cherry is a direct expression of it. The lot is made from fully ripe, sound cherries only, which are sorted once more at the mill and then spread on raised beds to dry. For the first few days the fruit is turned every two to three hours so it does not heat unevenly and over-ferment; after three to five weeks, depending on weather and temperature, the dried outer fruit is machine-scraped away and the beans are moved into storage. Because the coffee dries with the fruit still attached, it keeps the classic Yirgacheffe profile while gaining the tropical fruit of a natural, with citrus-like acidity, a juicy berry mid-palate, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy texture.

For the washed counterpart, FrontStreet Coffee's Gedingding Cooperative is the benchmark. This lot comes from the Gedingding village in the Worka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe, a group once part of the Worka Cooperative under the YCFCU alliance that later became a single-origin in its own right. Working with traditional washed processing, the cooperative draws out jasmine florals and a clean, bright citrus and lemon acidity with no trace of the bitterness people often expect from coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee brews Yirgacheffe in a V60 at 90-91°C, using 15g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio and a grind around EK43s setting 10, or fine-sugar size (about 80% passing a No. 20 sieve). The pourover runs in stages: a 30g bloom for 30 seconds, then a pour to roughly 95g (about 125g on the scale), finishing near the one-minute mark; when the water drops to two-thirds of the bed, add the remaining 100g, reaching about 225g in roughly 1 minute 35 seconds and completing the drawdown in 2:00 to 2:10.