How Does Yirgacheffe Washed Aricha Coffee Come About - How Are Yirgacheffe Coffee Beans Classified

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 batch of FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe comes from the Kebel Aricha processing station, where some 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 three years ago together with his team at ONA Coffee. The project works directly with coffee farmers in poorer countries and regions, improving their production conditions and paying 20% above fair-trade prices.

The idea is also to strengthen the link between roasters and farmers, 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 tones, green berries, peach, longan and red-date aroma, honey sweetness, cocoa with subtle spice notes, full body, and a persistent aftertaste.

Yirgacheffe Classification

Yirgacheffe beans fall into two broad categories by processing method:

Category A is washed processing, graded under Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) standards as Gr-1 and Gr-2, the smaller the number, the higher the grade. FrontStreet Coffee's G1 washed Yirgacheffe has a distinctive style, its citrus and floral notes woven through the cup, an irresistible flavor.

Category B is natural processing, graded Gr-1, Gr-3, Gr-4, and Gr-5. The top grade, FrontStreet Coffee's G1 natural Yirgacheffe, is loaded with fruit aroma, opening a bag of freshly roasted G1 natural will overturn everything you thought you knew about coffee. Only those who have tasted it believe that coffee is, at heart, a fruit.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Address: No. 10, Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Ingredients: In-house roasted
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 227 g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast Level: Light roast
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Ethiopia
Processing Method: Washed

How the Washed Lot Is Made

First, coffee farmers pick the cherries and pour them into water-filled pools. Differences in ripeness create differences in density: overripe and underripe cherries, along with leaves and twigs, float, while fully ripe cherries sink. The first screening happens, quite literally, naturally.

The selected ripe cherries then go into the depulper, which strips away skin and pulp. Next, the beans, still coated in mucilage, enter fermentation, where microorganisms in water or air break the mucilage down. Once fermentation is complete, the beans in parchment are washed clean in the channels, then dried to a moisture content of around 12%. They rest in burlap bags for 2–3 months to stabilize quality, and finally the parchment is hulled and the coffee is ready for sale.

Brewing Instructions

Hand-poured FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe: use 15 g of coffee ground medium-fine (Komachi grinder at 3.5), a V60 dripper, and water at 91–93°C. Pour 30 g first for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105 g and pause. When the water level drops halfway, resume pouring slowly until you reach 225 g. Skip the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

FrontStreet Washed Yirgacheffe (everyday brew): to get to know Ethiopia as an origin, start with the most classic washed Yirgacheffe. It is known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like finish, and its friendly price has made it many people's first specialty coffee bean.

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia's southern Sidamo province at roughly 1700–2100 meters, with coffee planted above 1800 meters, among the highest coffee elevations in the world. The area was historically wetland, and the name Yirgacheffe has become shorthand for Ethiopia's signature white florals and lemon-citrus acidity. In 2010 the name grew so famous that the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange separated it from the wider Sidamo designation, creating the household-name appellation we know today.

FrontStreet Worka Cooperative coffee: fewer people realize that the Yirgacheffe appellation breaks down into many micro-regions and villages, several home to seasoned, technically mature cooperatives whose coffees rise another level. The most representative is the washed Worka Cooperative, at the southeastern edge of the Yirgacheffe zone. Once part of the YCFCU union's Worka cooperative, it was picked out by coffee hunters worldwide as a traceable single origin in its own right. Using traditional washed processing, often called the last unspoiled wash of Yirgacheffe, its coffee has none of the conventional bitterness: just clean, bright citrus and lemon acidity with jasmine fragrance that wins people over at first sip.

FrontStreet Natural Red Cherry: from the same appellation, this lot is a whole-red-cherry natural, only fully ripe, defect-free cherries are picked, sorted again at the station, then dried whole on raised beds, turned every 2–3 hours during the first days to prevent uneven heating and over-fermentation. After three to five weeks in the sun, the dried outer fruit is mechanically stripped and the coffee is warehoused. Because the beans dry inside the fruit, the cup keeps classic Yirgacheffe character while gaining tropical fruit: citrus acidity, berry-like juiciness, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy smoothness.