Ethiopia Natural Yirgacheffe G1 Konga Cooperative Coffee Beans Flavor, Taste, and Aroma Description

Product Information

Product Name: Cupping Score 94 - FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia Natural Yirgacheffe G1 Konga Cooperative (Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Konga Coop G1 Natural)

Flavor Description

Rich floral notes, fresh blueberry fruit, mango and ripe citrus aromatics, honey sweetness, a creamy texture, and an intense, full-bodied wave of tropical fruit flavors.

Cupping Details

Cupping Score: 94 points

Submitting Company: PT's Coffee Roasting Co.

Cupping Name: Konga Natural Ethiopia

Location: Topeka, Kansas

Origin: Konga District, Yirgacheffe growing region, southern Ethiopia

Roast: Light

Review Date: October 2014

Agtron: 62/84

Aroma: 9

Acidity: 8

Body: 9

Flavor: 10

Aftertaste: 8

Origin Information

Country of Origin: Ethiopia

Region: Yirgacheffe, Konga village

Producer: Konga Cooperative

Variety: Local Heirloom

Grade: Natural (rated G1, the highest grade under the ECX system)

Altitude: 1,800 to 2,000 meters

Processing Method: Traditional natural processing

Harvest Period: October to February each year

Certification: N/A

Introduction

Since the ECX system was implemented in 2008, most Ethiopian green coffee has been sold through bidding under that system. Cooperatives, however, sit outside its jurisdiction and can negotiate, price, and export directly with buyers. The Konga Cooperative is one of the 26 member cooperatives of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union (YCFCU). The YCFCU currently represents more than 50,000 coffee farmers from over 300,000 households. Established in June 2002, all 26 member unions are located in the Gedeo zone of southern Ethiopia, one of the country's most famous and important coffee-producing areas.

The Konga Cooperative is made up of 1,556 smallholder coffee-farming families and sits 5 kilometers south of Yirgacheffe town. It was founded in 1994 and joined the YCFCU union in 2002. These smallholders farm an average of less than 1.25 hectares each, at growing altitudes of roughly 1,800 to 2,000 meters. The varieties are mainly a mix of Typica and local Heirloom. Every one to two years, cooperative members hold elections to choose an executive committee, which decides on purchasing new equipment, sharing business information with members, and setting payment methods for transactions. In addition, the YCFCU assigns professional managers to its cooperatives to advise on harvesting and production, helping raise both yield and quality. Organizing into cooperatives shields farmers from low-price exploitation by middlemen, and in hard economic times the cooperative can extend loan assistance - a benefit to both the farmers and the coffee itself.

This batch of FrontStreet Coffee's Konga Cooperative Natural Yirgacheffe G1 offers rich floral notes, fresh blueberry fruit, mango and ripe citrus aromatics, honey sweetness, a creamy texture, and full-bodied, intense tropical fruit flavors.

Ethiopia has eight principal coffee-producing regions: Ekempti, Limu, Illubabor, Djimma, Harrar, Teppi/Bebeka, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe. Yirgacheffe lies in the Gedeo zone of southern Ethiopia, an area that also includes the well-known districts of Yirgacheffe and Kochere. Because the coffee grown here has such special, distinctive flavors and is so widely loved, it was granted its own classification and has always commanded a place in the global specialty coffee market.

Yirgacheffe itself is a small town in the Sidama province, surrounded by three nearby sub-regions: Wenago, Kochere, and Gelena Abaya. Since the coffee from Kochere tastes almost identical to coffee from FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe lots, Kochere is generally classified under the Yirgacheffe category. In November 2009, Ethiopia rolled out a new trading and grading system, establishing the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), through which coffee and other agricultural products are officially traded. Alongside Yirgacheffe, three sub-regions were added under its name: Wenago, Kochere, and Genlena Abaya, a recognition that the flavors of these three areas are distinctive enough to be classified on their own terms.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this natural Konga charms you, the FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe lineup is a natural next step. The FrontStreet Washed Yirgacheffe house coffee is the classic gateway to Ethiopian flavors: jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a gentle tea-like finish at a friendly price, making it many drinkers' first specialty bean. The FrontStreet Guodingding Cooperative coffee, from the Worka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe, is traditionally washed and shows clean, bright citrus and lemon acidity wrapped in jasmine fragrance.

For a natural-process companion, the FrontStreet Red Cherry Project natural uses only fully ripe, defect-free cherries dried on raised beds, turned every 2-3 hours in the early days to prevent uneven fermentation, for three to five weeks of sun-drying. The cup combines classic Yirgacheffe character with tropical fruit: citrus-like acidity, berry juiciness, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy smoothness.

Brewing suggestion: use a V60 with 15g of coffee, a 1:15 ratio, water at 90-91°C, and a medium-fine grind (about the size of fine granulated sugar, with 80% of particles passing a #20 sieve). Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, pour to about 125g by the one-minute mark, then finish to 225g by around 1:35, with drawdown complete between 2:00 and 2:10.