Yirgacheffe Coffee Bean Origin, Yirgacheffe G2 Coffee Bean Grade Flavor Profile and Characteristics

Even if you don't like acidic coffee, anyone who regularly drinks coffee has surely heard of Yirgacheffe coffee. The so-called Yirgacheffe flavor profile features bright citrus, lemon, and jasmine floral notes, with the fragrance of white flowers upon entry, accompanied by rich fruit sweetness and acidity. FrontStreet Coffee believes this represents the unique regional taste characteristic of Ethiopian coffee—the terroir and climate give the coffee its distinctive aromatic qualities. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee has included washed Yirgacheffe in its daily supply bean series, allowing everyone to experience the classic Yirgacheffe flavor profile.

Yirgacheffe Coffee Bean Growing Regions

Ethiopia's coffee cultivation is primarily concentrated in the western and southern regions, with smallholder families accounting for 90% of total cultivation. Nearly 1.2 million smallholder families rely on coffee cultivation for their livelihood. The local coffee production systems are divided into four types: forest coffee, semi-forest coffee, garden coffee, and large plantations, with garden coffee being the most common.

Due to the small production volume of smallholder-grown coffee, local areas have various coffee cooperatives and processing stations responsible for handling green coffee beans from their regions. Farmers deliver their harvested coffee beans to nearby processing stations established near water sources for unified processing, and subsequent sales are made under the processing station's name. The Yirgacheffe growing region is one of these areas. The name Yirgacheffe originates from the town of "Yirgacheffe," a small town situated at an ultra-high altitude of 1700-2100 meters, where mist lingers during the day and spring-like conditions prevail year-round. Coffee farmers grow coffee trees alongside other crops in their backyards or farmland in front of their homes. Strictly speaking, Yirgacheffe is a sub-region of Ethiopia's Sidamo province, located to the northwest of Sidamo. Later, because the coffee produced here gained distinctive flavors and became world-renowned, it separated from Sidamo to become its own distinctive category.

In 2004, the Ethiopian government registered the flavor profiles of three domestic coffee growing regions (including Yirgacheffe®) as commercial trademarks to promote coffee industry development. In 2008, the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) was established, with coffee being one of the auctioned commodities. The government implemented quality grading and flavor classification for exported coffee to ensure buyers can purchase coffee with trademarked flavor profiles. Origins with Yirgacheffe flavor characteristics include Yirgacheffe, Wenago, Gelena Abaya, and Kochere.

However, not all coffee from these four administrative regions can be sold as "Yirgacheffe flavor" because it must first pass the Ethiopian government's flavor certification to confirm it possesses "Yirgacheffe flavor characteristics" before using this trademark. FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe supply beans are selected from washed G2 grade Yirgacheffe coffee beans.

What is G2 Grade?

Ethiopian green coffee beans are divided into two main categories based on processing methods—natural and washed—then classified according to the number of defects and cupping quality. In Ethiopia's coffee grading system, grades start with G and are divided into 5 levels, with smaller numbers indicating higher grades. G1 grade requires no more than 3 defective beans per 300 grams of green coffee, while G2 grade allows 4-12 defective beans per 300 grams. Since manual hand sorting occurs both before and after roasting, the difference in defective beans between G1 and G2 in their roasted state narrows, making G2 grade Yirgacheffe an exceptionally cost-effective coffee bean.

What are Heirloom Varieties?

As the birthplace of Arabica coffee, Ethiopia preserves over ten thousand indigenous Arabica coffee varieties. Coffee is generally grown in three main systems: smallholder cultivation, semi-forest cultivation, and forest cultivation. Among these, semi-forest cultivated coffee trees typically grow as wild varieties in natural settings, with farmers managing the coffee tree growing areas while also cultivating other economic crops. Heirloom variety coffees are usually identified and confirmed by growers based on years of experience because the number of varieties is so large that genetic testing and verification on a larger scale is nearly impossible. Meanwhile, the local government hopes to protect these unknown varieties from being sought after by industry professionals from various countries, so they decided to name these varieties "Heirloom."

Ethiopia, as the birthplace of Arabica coffee, possesses thousands of Heirloom varieties, making it a truly unique growing region. Heirloom varieties generally have small, relatively round beans that are not very uniform in shape, mostly between 14-15 screen size. In cupping, they often exhibit elegant floral and fruit flavors that are deeply loved by people.

Why Choose Washed Yirgacheffe?

The reason Yirgacheffe possesses such a distinctive style is largely thanks to the washed processing technology introduced by the Ethiopian government from Central and South America in 1972, in addition to its inherent terroir conditions.

Farms using the washed method must build washing tanks capable of introducing continuous fresh water, resulting in higher production costs. During processing, fermented beans are placed in tanks and moved back and forth, using the friction between beans and the power of flowing water to wash the coffee beans until smooth and clean. Each step removes impurities and defective beans, resulting in more uniform green bean quality, and the final trading price is higher than naturally dried coffee. Washing not only significantly reduces the defect rate of coffee but also gives Yirgacheffe its fresh citrus tones and elegant white floral notes, with an overall flavor that is bright, delicate, and clean.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe supply beans use washed processing and medium-light roasting, presenting classic Yirgacheffe flavor notes, suitable for various brewing methods including pour-over, cold brew, French press, and more. FrontStreet Coffee's supply bean series allows friends new to the coffee world to experience the fundamental flavors of growing regions at affordable prices, while small packaging designs also avoid waste from unfinished coffee. If you want to taste the classic aroma of Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee believes that hand-brewed black coffee is the most suitable choice.

Brewing Recommendations

Dripper: V60
Water Temperature: 92-93°C
Coffee Dose: 15g
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Fine sugar size (78% retention through #20 sieve screen)
Three-Pour Method: Use twice the coffee dose in water to moisten the coffee bed, forming a dome for 30s bloom. Then, using a small water stream, pour in concentric circles from inside to out until reaching 125g, pausing until the coffee bed drops to half the dripper's height. Continue with the same fine water stream for the third pour to 225g, until all coffee liquid has filtered through, then remove the dripper. Total time should be approximately 2 minutes.

When ground into powder, washed Yirgacheffe supply bean coffee releases honey and jasmine aromas. As FrontStreet Coffee pours hot water, it begins to emit subtle berry fruit notes. The hand-brewed black coffee entry presents bright lemon, citrus, and green tea notes. As the temperature changes, berry, cream, and sugarcane aftertastes emerge, with a noticeable sweet aftertaste and a clean, sweet mouthfeel.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style). For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat (ID: qjcoffeex)

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473