Introduction to Yirgacheffe Aman Small Farmer Gudibe Single Farm - Yirgacheffe Coffee Flavor

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Ethiopia's Coffee Export Systems

Under Ethiopian regulations, there are three coffee export systems:

(1) The largest system of private processing plants exported through ECX bidding;

(2) The cooperative system;

(3) The single farm system.

Of these three, cooperatives and single estates can be exported directly without going through ECX bidding, which gives them completely reliable traceability. Strictly speaking, though, cooperatives still purchase cherries harvested by smallholders for centralized processing, so they are not 100% traceable. Single farms are ultimately the only route toward the next generation of traceability. The single farm system has actually existed in Ethiopia all along, but its share has never been high, and traditionally such farms belonged to large commercial batches that did not prioritize quality. As Ethiopia emerged in the third wave of specialty coffee over the past two to three decades, a group of innovators influenced by Western culture joined traditional coffee practitioners, hoping to bring change to the industry. Besides traditional exporters investing in cultivation, a wave of people returning from Europe and America to invest in their hometowns has also appeared.

The Vision Behind Single Farm Projects

The farm owner, Aman, received a Western education and has complete Western corporate experience. Even more remarkably, after returning to Ethiopia and before establishing his own coffee production company, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the ECX. Based on the neutral principle of official institutions, he could not intervene in production or commercial matters during his tenure. After stepping down, he can finally realize his ambitions. But how important is the single farm system, which we will call the Single Farm Project, or SFP for short?

Ethiopia is dominated by smallholder systems, but smallholder systems cannot achieve complete traceability, single-variety batches, special-processing batches, customized batches, and other concepts that matter greatly to the development of specialty coffee. Single farms are the only answer to all of these problems. Aman chose a location in what is arguably the most premium area of the broader Yirgacheffe region, the Gedeb area, which belongs to Kochere if classified by ECX producing regions.

The Gedeb Region

Gedeb lies in the southeastern corner of Yirgacheffe. Heading south from Yirgacheffe town for about 50 kilometers, the altitude rises from 1,850m in Yirgacheffe town to 2,030 meters at the processing station, making it the highest area in the entire Yirgacheffe region. Coffee professionals often refer to this area as Gedeb, mainly because the largest urban center there is named Gedeb. On reaching Gedeb town, turn left and continue east for about fifteen minutes to arrive. At this point you have reached the most remote area; travel less than ten minutes farther and you arrive at Worka.

Quality Processing Methods

As the SCAA slogan says, "Because great coffee doesn't just happen."

Harvesting and selecting only fully ripe bright red cherries is already the most basic requirement, and it is worth remembering how difficult that is to achieve in Ethiopia, where smallholder systems dominate and sorting is generally done by hand on drying racks. The natural processing here adopts the most meticulous refined operation, so the cherries on the drying racks are laid in a single layer only. The drying schedule is strictly controlled to around 18 days. We have given it a simple name: SLD, for Single Layer Drying, or Slow Drying. Single-layer stacking gives the coffee cherries the most perfect convection and drying environment, which everyone knows, but it is also the most space-consuming and least production-friendly method. Proper slow drying lets the cherries develop optimal water activity during drying, which not only develops good flavor but also allows the green beans to keep longer during the seasonal cycle. This method does extend the time required for each batch, however.

Another point worth noting is that the farm's storage warehouse uses a batch management system that is rare in Ethiopia. Every bag of stored parchment beans carries a number that can be traced back to specific harvesting dates, processing dates, drying processes, and rack numbers in the batch management system.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee suggests the following brewing parameters:

Pour-over: V60 filter cup, grind with Fuji R440 at 3.5, water temperature around 90°C

French press: recommended grind level 4, water temperature 90°C

Siphon: recommended grind level 4, water temperature between 90°C-91°C

AeroPress: recommended grind level 3.5, water temperature 90°C

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

This single farm project expresses the Gedeb corner of Yirgacheffe at its most precise, and FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe lineup offers the same region from a few different angles. The FrontStreet Everyday Washed Yirgacheffe is the classic starting point, known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like body at a welcoming price. Yirgacheffe itself is a small town in southern Ethiopia's Sidamo province, sitting at roughly 1,700 to 2,100 meters, with the trees planted above 1,800 meters, making it one of the highest coffee regions in the world; the name became so famous that it was separated from Sidamo in 2010.

If you want the cooperative expression of this same elevated area, the FrontStreet Gudibe Cooperative coffee comes from the Worka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe, close to the Gedeb zone. It was once part of the Worka cooperative under the YCFCU alliance, then became a single-origin lot as the search for traceability grew, and its traditional washed processing yields clean, bright citrus and lemon acidity with jasmine fragrance. For contrast, the FrontStreet Natural Red Cherry is made from fully ripe cherries dried in the fruit for three to five weeks, preserving the classic Yirgacheffe identity while adding the tropical fruit, citrus acidity, berry juice, honey sweetness, and creamy body that natural processing brings.