Introduction to Yirgacheffe Natural Coffee Beans | Yirgacheffe Coffee Flavor Profile | How to Brew Yirgacheffe Coffee

Yirgacheff: A Premium Ethiopian Coffee Region

Yirgacheff is a highly regarded small coffee-producing region in the Gedeo area of southern Ethiopia. The harvested beans come from local smallholders, forming a collective of many individual growers. These farmers typically work plots averaging about 1 hectare, at altitudes of roughly 1,800 to 2,000 meters. The main varieties are a mix of Typica and Heirloom, the local indigenous types.

Because the region has a number of relatively advanced green bean processing facilities, it has consistently performed at a high level in both natural and washed processing. Its clean, sweet profile with complex berry and citrus notes is widely praised. The local model is for smallholders to deliver their picked red cherries directly to nearby cooperative processing facilities for unified handling. Since washed processing technology arrived in Ethiopia in the 1970s, the Yirgacheff region has produced both natural and washed beans, with the natural processing reaching high quality standards.

The processing plant first sorts and grades the red, cherry-colored fruit, then uses water to float off any cherries that are not solid. Once the solid red cherries that sink to the bottom have been separated out, the parchment beans are placed on racks for natural sun-drying. When the moisture content falls to 12% or below, the beans go directly to the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) warehouse in Awassa. Cupping grading and quantity assessment are typically carried out on the beans in parchment form for both washed and natural processing, and hulling is done only just before export.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Parameters:

Pour-over: V60 dripper, Fuji R440 grind setting 3.5, water temperature around 90°C

French Press: Recommended grind setting 4, water temperature 90°C

Siphon: Recommended grind setting 4, water temperature between 90°C-91°C

AeroPress: Recommended grind setting 3.5, water temperature 90°C

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For the natural side of Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet's Natural Red Cherry is a fitting place to start. It is processed as a full red-cherry natural, meaning only fully ripe sound fruit is picked, sorted once at the mill, then laid on raised beds in the sun and turned every 2-3 hours in the first few days to avoid uneven heat and over-fermentation. After three to five weeks of drying, the fruit is machine-scraped off according to the weather and temperature, and the beans move into storage. Drying the coffee with the fruit still attached gives it classic Yirgacheffe character along with the tropical fruit aroma of a natural: citrus-like acidity, a berry-juice body, honeyed sweetness and a creamy smoothness.

If you would like to compare that against the region's cleaner washed style, FrontStreet's Gudingding Cooperative is the counterpart. It comes from the Gudingding washing station in the Woka area at Yirgacheffe's southeastern edge, processed in the most traditional washed way, and the cup is clean and bright, with none of the traditional bitter note, a fresh citrus and lemon acidity, and jasmine blossom.