How to Properly Brew Yirgacheffe Washed Aricha and Aricha Coffee Bean Pricing

Processing Method: Washed

Happy coffee farmers pick the cherries from the trees, then pour them into a pool of water. Because density varies with ripeness, overripe and underripe cherries — along with stray branches and leaves — float on the surface while fully ripe cherries sink. That's the first round of screening, done naturally.

The selected ripe cherries next enter the depulping machine to strip away skin and pulp;

Pour-over Yirgacheffe: 15g of coffee, ground medium-fine (Fuji Royal grinder setting 3.5), V60 dripper, water temperature 91-93°C. Pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and pause. Once the level in the bed drops to half, continue pouring slowly to 225g. Cut the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

The beans, still carrying residual pulp and mucilage, then move into fermentation (fermented with microorganisms in water or air). After fermentation, the parchment-covered beans travel down washing channels for a thorough rinse, then go to drying, where moisture is held as close to 12% as possible. Packed in jute bags, they rest for about 2-3 months of conditioning to stabilize quality, and only then is the parchment milled away so they can be sold.

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 deliver their ripe cherries for processing in exchange for cash.

About Project Origin

Sasa Sestic, the 2015 World Barista Champion, launched the green bean sourcing project Project Origin three years ago together with his business team at ONA Coffee. The project works directly with coffee growers in poor countries and regions to improve production conditions, paying purchase prices 20% above fair trade rates.

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

Flavor Description

Sweet citrus notes, green berries, peach, longan and red date aroma, honey sweetness, cocoa with subtle spice notes, full body with a long-lasting aftertaste.

Yirgacheffe Classification by Processing Method

Yirgacheffe splits into two main categories by processing method:

Category A: Washed processing, graded under Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) standards into Gr-1 and Gr-2 — the smaller the number, the higher the grade. G1 washed Yirgacheffe has a distinctive style, citrus and florals woven through the cup, a flavor nobody resists;

Category B: Natural processing, graded Gr-1, Gr-3, Gr-4, Gr-5. The top G1 natural Yirgacheffe is bursting with fruit aroma — opening a bag of freshly roasted G1 natural upends everything you thought you knew about coffee. Only those who have tasted top-grade natural Yirgacheffe will believe that coffee is, at heart, a fruit.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For a first taste of Ethiopia, FrontStreet Coffee's everyday washed Yirgacheffe is the classic starting point — white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like sweetness at a friendly price, the bean many drinkers use as their gateway into specialty coffee. For a village-level expression, the washed Guodingding Cooperative lot from the Worka region brings the same clean citrus brightness with jasmine fragrance and green tea and honey tones under a medium-light roast — at home in pour-over, cold brew, or even espresso.

If it's natural-process fruit you're after, FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Red Cherry from Yirgacheffe delivers citrus acidity layered with berry juiciness, honeyed sweetness, and a cream-smooth texture, thanks to careful raised-bed drying with the cherries turned every 2-3 hours through the first days and dried for three to five weeks. Both FrontStreet beans ship freshly roasted — roasted no more than 5 days before dispatch — and with a 4-7 day rest they reach your cup right at their flavor peak. Brew washed Yirgacheffe at 91-93°C, 15g, 1:15, three-stage pour to 225g, and let the florals do the rest.