The History, Origin, Flavor Profile, and Grade Introduction of Yirgacheffe

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Today, let's talk about a "blockbuster" coffee bean—Yirgacheffe. This coffee bean has been elevated to almost mythical status by various media outlets, films, online stores, physical shops, coffee competitions, and other channels. Undeniably, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe boasts exceptional flavor characteristics, but after all, it's just a coffee bean. Before we begin, we need to approach this bean with an objective and calm mindset.

For centuries, Ethiopia has provided the world's most acclaimed single-origin premium coffee beans. Its complex flavor profile, distinctive acidity, and light floral aromatics have captivated countless people, making them fall in love with this historic coffee-growing region. At FrontStreet Coffee, our bean menu offers dozens of options, but many regular customers walk in and specifically ask for a cup of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. So what exactly does this beautiful name refer to when it comes to coffee? Today, please join FrontStreet Coffee as we explore the story of this classic coffee together.

Introduction to the Yirgacheffe Growing Region

Coffee cultivation in Ethiopia 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 system is 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 volumes of smallholder farms, there are numerous coffee cooperatives and processing stations of various sizes in the region, primarily responsible for processing green coffee beans from the area. Farmers deliver their harvested coffee beans to nearby processing stations established near water sources for unified processing, and subsequently, the coffee is sold under the name of the processing station. 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 1,700-2,100 meters. During the day, the area is often shrouded in mist, with spring-like weather year-round. Coffee farmers typically grow coffee trees alongside other crops in their backyards or front fields. Strictly speaking, Yirgacheffe is a sub-region of Ethiopia's Sidamo province, located in the northwestern part of Sidamo. Later, because the coffee produced here has distinctive flavors and became world-famous, it was separated from Sidamo to become its own independent category.

To promote coffee industry development, the Ethiopian government registered three of the country's coffee regional flavors (including Yirgacheffe®) as commercial trademarks in 2004. In 2008, the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) was established, with coffee being one of the auctioned commodities. The government implements quality grading and flavor classification for exported coffee to ensure buyers can purchase coffee with trademarked flavors. Regions that produce Yirgacheffe-flavored coffee include Yirgacheffe, Wenago, Gelena Abaya, and Kochere.

However, not all coffee from these four administrative regions can necessarily be sold as "Yirgacheffe-flavored" coffee, as it must first pass the Ethiopian government's flavor certification to confirm it possesses "Yirgacheffe flavor characteristics" before this trademark can be used. FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe daily bean is selected from washed process G2 grade Yirgacheffe coffee beans.

G1 and G2: Which is Higher Grade?

Ethiopian green coffee beans are categorized into two main groups based on processing methods: natural and washed. They are then graded according to the number of defects and cupping performance. In the Ethiopian coffee grading system, beans are classified into 5 grades starting with G, where smaller numbers indicate higher grades. G1 grade requirements specify no more than 3 defective beans per 300 grams of green coffee, while G2 grade allows 4-12 defective beans per 300 grams of green coffee. Since manual sorting is performed both before and after roasting, the defect gap between G1 and G2 in the roasted state also narrows, making G2 grade Yirgacheffe an extremely cost-effective coffee bean.

What is Heirloom?

If you frequently encounter Ethiopian coffee, you're undoubtedly familiar with the Heirloom coffee variety. In Ethiopia, Heirloom is a collective term referring to many of the country's wild or genetically undefined indigenous varieties. In the dictionary, Heirloom refers to "valuable property passed down through generations," meaning that for Ethiopians, coffee is an irreplaceable "treasure."

As the birthplace of Arabica coffee, Ethiopia preserves tens of thousands of original Arabica coffee varieties. Coffee is typically grown under three main systems: smallholder cultivation, semi-forest cultivation, and forest cultivation. Among these, semi-forest coffee trees generally grow in the wild as native varieties, with farmers managing the coffee-growing areas and cultivating other economic crops. Heirloom varieties are usually identified and confirmed by growers based on years of experience, because the sheer number of varieties makes genetic testing and verification on a larger scale nearly impossible. Additionally, the local government hopes to protect these unknown varieties from being sought after by practitioners from various countries, so they decided to name these varieties "Heirloom."

Ethiopia is the birthplace of Arabica coffee, and its thousands of Heirloom varieties make it a unique growing region. Heirloom native varieties typically have small, relatively round beans that are not very uniform in shape, mostly ranging between 14-15 screen size. In cupping, they often exhibit elegant floral and fruit flavors, making them highly popular among people.

Why Choose Washed Yirgacheffe?

The reason Yirgacheffe can possess such a distinctive style, aside from innate terroir conditions, is largely due to the washed processing technology introduced from Central and South America by the Ethiopian government in 1972.

Farms using the washed method must build washing pools and have access to continuous fresh water, resulting in higher production costs. During processing, fermented beans are placed in the pools and moved back and forth, using the friction between beans and the power of flowing water to wash the coffee beans until they are 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.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe daily bean uses washed processing and light-medium roast, presenting classic Yirgacheffe flavor notes, suitable for various brewing methods including pour-over, cold brew, French press, and more. FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series allows newcomers to the coffee world to experience the basic regional flavors at an affordable price, with small packaging design preventing waste from unfinished coffee. If you want to taste the classic aroma of Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee believes that hand-brewed black coffee is the perfect choice.

Brewing Recommendations

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

When ground into powder, the washed Yirgacheffe daily bean coffee emits the fresh aroma of honey and jasmine. When FrontStreet Coffee adds hot water, it begins to release subtle berry notes. The hand-brewed black coffee enters with bright lemon, citrus, and green tea flavors. As the temperature changes, it reveals berry, cream, and sugarcane notes in the aftertaste, with a distinct sweet aftertaste and a clean, sweet mouthfeel.

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