Recommendation: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Konga Cooperative G1 Natural Coffee Beans Scoring 94 Points

Cupping Score 94: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Konga Coop G1 Natural

Flavor Description

Rich floral notes, fresh blueberry fruit, mango and ripe citrus aromas, honey, a creamy texture and full-bodied, rich tropical fruit flavors.

Coffee Specifications

Country of origin: Ethiopia

Region: Yirgacheffe Konga village

Producer: Konga Coop

Variety: Heirloom

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

Altitude: 1,800-2,000 meters

Processing method: Traditional natural processing

Harvest period: October to February of the following year

The ECX System and Cooperative Background

Since the ECX system was introduced in 2008, most green coffee has been auctioned and sold through it, but cooperatives fall outside its jurisdiction. They can contact buyers directly, negotiate and export on their own terms.

Konga Coop is one of the 26 member unions of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union (YCFCU). YCFCU now represents more than 50,000 coffee farmers belonging to over 300,000 family representatives. Founded in June 2002, all 26 unions are located in the Gedeo region of southern Ethiopia, a famously important coffee-producing area.

Konga Cooperative Details

Konga Coop is made up of 1,556 smallholder coffee-farming families. It lies 5 kilometers south of Yirgacheffe, was established in 1994 and joined the YCFCU union in 2002. These smallholders farm an average of less than 1.25 hectares each, at altitudes of roughly 1,800 to 2,000 meters. The varieties are mainly a mix of Typica and Heirloom.

Every one to two years, cooperative members hold elections to choose an executive committee. The committee can decide on new equipment purchases, exchange business information with members and set the payment terms for transactions. In addition, YCFCU assigns professional managers to the cooperatives to advise on harvesting, production and other procedures, which raises output and improves quality.

Cooperatives let the farmers beneath them avoid low-price exploitation by buyers, and when members run into financial difficulty the cooperative can extend loan assistance. That is a clear benefit for both the farmers and coffee production.

This batch of Konga Coop natural Yirgacheffe G1 shows rich floral notes, fresh blueberry fruit, mango and ripe citrus aromas, honey, a creamy texture and full-bodied, rich tropical fruit flavors.

Ethiopia's Coffee Regions

Ethiopia has eight main producing regions: Ekempti, Limu, Illubabor, Djimma, Harrar, Teppi/Bebeka, Sidamo and Yirgacheffe.

About the Yirgacheffe Region

Yirgacheffe lies in the Gedeo region of southern Ethiopia and governs the better-known Yirgacheffe and Kochere areas. Because coffee from Yirgacheffe has such a special, distinctive flavor and is so widely loved, it gets its own classification in product categorization and always holds a place in the global specialty coffee market.

Yirgacheffe, in Sidama province, is itself a small town with three neighboring small producing areas: Wenago, Kochere and Gelena Abaya. Because the coffee grown in these areas tastes almost the same as Yirgacheffe's, Kochere is also folded into the Yirgacheffe regional classification.

Ethiopia introduced a new trading and grading system in November 2009, establishing the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), where coffee and other agricultural products are officially traded. Alongside Yirgacheffe, three sub-regions were added: Wenago, Kochere and Genlena Abaya, which indicates just how delicate the flavors of these three areas are and how finely they can be subdivided.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For anyone new to Ethiopia, FrontStreet suggests starting with its washed Yirgacheffe daily drinker. It is known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity and a tea-like body, and its friendly price has made it the first specialty coffee for many drinkers. Yirgacheffe town sits in Sidama province at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters, with the coffee trees planted above 1,800 meters, making it one of the highest coffee regions in the world; in 2010 the ECX finally separated Yirgacheffe from Sidamo as its reputation grew.

For a step up, FrontStreet's washed Gedingding Cooperative coffee comes from the Worka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe. It was originally part of the YCFCU's Worka cooperative and was later singled out as a single-origin lot as demand for traceability grew. It follows the most traditional washed processing and shows fresh, bright citrus and lemon acidity with jasmine fragrance rather than any bitter tone.

If you prefer fruit-forward coffee, FrontStreet's Natural Red Cherry is a full-red-cherry natural: only fully ripe, sound fruit is picked, sorted at the mill and dried on raised beds, turned every 2-3 hours during the first days and dried for three to five weeks before the pulp is removed and the beans are stored. It keeps the classic Yirgacheffe character while adding tropical fruit from the natural process, with citrus acidity, berry juice, honey sweetness and a creamy smoothness.

FrontStreet brews these coffees in a V60 at 90-91°C, using 15 g of coffee and a 1:15 ratio, with a grind of EK43s setting 10, about the size of fine granulated sugar (80% passing a No. 20 sieve). Pour in three stages: a 30 g bloom for 30 seconds, then 95 g (about 125 g on the scale), finished in roughly one minute; once the water drops to two-thirds of the bed, add the remaining 100 g (about 225 g on the scale) and finish around 1:35. Drawdown completes at 2:00-2:10; then remove the dripper.