Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Project Coffee Bean Story: Pour-over Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry Coffee Flavor Characteristics

What is the Red Cherry Project?

Recently, you may have noticed various "Red Cherry Project" offerings on many coffee menus—XX Red Cherry Project, XX Red Cherry Natural, XX Red Cherry Washed, and so on. Some customers ask me if Red Cherry means the coffee has a cherry flavor. Others claim that the Red Cherry coffee they drank truly had a cherry taste (wow!! truly a divine being)... Of course, some people ask why we use the term "Red Cherry" instead of Red Apple, Red Strawberry, Red... In fact, this is because when coffee cherries are fully ripe, their appearance resembles dark red cherries. Due to their similar color and shape to cherries, they are called Red Cherry. The Red Cherry Project, also known as Operation Red Cherry, was initiated by the Dutch to emphasize using fully mature fruits to obtain the flavors of ripe coffee cherries.

Operation Red Cherry (ORC)

Operation Red Cherry (ORC) is a quality enhancement project for small-scale farms, primarily aimed at encouraging coffee farmers and bringing surprises to roasters. Trabocca, the largest coffee bean merchant in the Netherlands, invites all Ethiopian farms to produce small batches of approximately 1500-3000 kilograms (25-50 bags) of beans before the harvest season. Women are only allowed to select 100% fully ripe red cherries, which makes a significant difference in the resulting coffee flavor. Therefore, meticulous, sharp-eyed, and hardworking Ethiopian women are crucial drivers of the Red Cherry Project.

Red Cherry Project Details

The Red Cherry Project is also a reinforcement approach that encourages farms to invest more effort in the selection and picking process. These coffees command relatively higher prices. The Red Cherry Project includes washed, natural, semi-washed, semi-natural, and experimental coffees. Major producing regions include Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Bench Maji (Bonga Forest), Lekempti, Kembata, Illubabor, Harar, Limu, and since 2011, the Golocha region (near Harar). All these areas produce unique-flavored coffees that fully showcase the distinctive characteristics of Ethiopian coffee beans.

After receiving the coffee, Trabocca conducts further selection. Farms that pass the cupping quality tests conducted by both Ethiopian and Dutch offices, meeting the standards, receive substantial bonuses. The coffee must score above 88 points in cupping to qualify as quality coffee in the Red Cherry Project.

Trabocca, the driving force behind the Red Cherry Project, reinvests all profits earned over the years into their partner farms. Trabocca emphasizes that this is a non-profit project, so the company executes the Red Cherry Project with only four people, including the owner and secretary. Other administrative matters are supported by the parent company to reduce administrative expenses, with all profits being returned to partner farms.

FrontStreet Coffee's Red Cherry Experience

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Project Natural Process coffee beans feature notes of peach, cocoa, honey, and lemon. Does this mean FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Red Cherry can only be light-roasted? What about medium roast? What flavors and mouthfeel would FrontStreet Coffee's natural Red Cherry have? At FrontStreet Coffee, we have also used our Yirgacheffe Red Cherry coffee beans roasted to medium to create SOE (Single Origin Espresso). The resulting coffee exhibits distinct fermented fruit aromas, prominent citrus flavors, and noticeable sweetness.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry Coffee Pour Over:

Recommended Brewing Method: Pour Over

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90-93°C

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Medium-fine

Brewing Technique:

30g of water for bloom, wait 30 seconds. Continue pouring to 125g, then wait until the water level drops to just above the coffee bed before continuing to pour to 225g. Stop pouring. Total extraction time should be 2 minutes (timing starts from the bloom).

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473