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

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Ethiopia's Coffee Export Systems

According to 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.

Among these three systems, cooperatives and single estates can be exported directly without going through ECX bidding, which can be said to have completely reliable traceability/product history. However, if we trace back to the root, cooperatives after all purchase cherries harvested by small farmers for centralized processing, so they are not 100% traceable. Single farms are ultimately the only possibility for moving toward the next generation. The single farm system has actually existed in Ethiopia all along, but its proportion has not been high, and traditionally they belong to large commercial batches that do not prioritize quality. With Ethiopia's emergence in the third wave of specialty coffee in the past two to three decades, in addition to traditional coffee practitioners, Ethiopia has gradually seen a group of innovators influenced by Western culture who hope to bring change to this industry. Besides traditional exporters investing in cultivation, it has also attracted a wave of people returning from Europe and America to invest in their hometowns.

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, before establishing his own coffee production company, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of ECX. Based on the neutral principle of official institutions, he could not intervene in production or commercial aspects during his tenure. After stepping down from his position, he can finally realize his ambitions. But how important is the single farm system (which we'll temporarily call Single Farm Project, or SFP for short)?

We all know that Ethiopia is dominated by smallholder systems, but smallholder systems cannot achieve complete traceability, single variety batches, special processing method batches, customized batches, and other very important practical concepts for specialty coffee development. Single farms are the only answer to all these problems. The location chosen by Aman is located in what can be said to be the most premium area of the entire broader Yirgacheffe region, which is the Gedeb area (if classified by ECX producing regions, it belongs to Kochere).

The Gedeb Region

Gedeb is located in the southeastern corner area 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 in this area is named Gedeb. Upon reaching Gedeb town, turn left and continue eastward for about fifteen minutes to reach the destination. At this point, you can say you've reached the most remote area. If you continue for less than ten minutes, you will 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 (allow us to remind everyone that this is very difficult to achieve in Ethiopia, which is dominated by smallholder systems, and generally still relies on manual sorting on drying racks). The natural processing here adopts the most meticulous refined operation, so the cherries on the drying racks are only laid in a single layer thickness. The drying schedule is strictly controlled to around 18 days. We've given it a simple name (SLD - Single Layer Drying/Slow Drying). Single layer stacking provides the most perfect convection and drying environment for coffee cherries, which everyone knows, but it is the most space-consuming and least production-friendly method. Proper slow drying allows coffee cherries to develop optimal water activity during the drying process, which not only develops good flavor but also allows the green beans to maintain longer storage during the seasonal cycle. However, this method extends the time required for each batch production.

Another noteworthy point is that the farm's storage warehouse has a rare batch management system in Ethiopia. Each bag of stored parchment beans has 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 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

Important Notice :

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