The Story and Flavor Profile of Gotiti Coffee Growing Region in Yirgacheffe

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

FrontStreet Coffee: Yirgacheffe Gotiti Coffee Region - Story and Flavor Characteristics

"Yirgacheffe" is a name that commands great respect in the international coffee market. It has indeed stolen the spotlight over the past decade. Most people generally (or roughly) know that Yirgacheffe coffee beans come from the town of Yirgacheffe in the Gedeo Zone of southern Ethiopia. Following Yirgacheffe, there's always another noun similar to a place name, such as Wenago, Beloya, Idido, and so on. According to explanations from professional coffee hunters (or professional purchasing personnel) who frequently travel to production regions, there are many ambiguous labelings, numerous rank misplacements, and quite a bit of misinformation passed down...

According to publicly available information from Linking Coffee, clarifying these administrative hierarchical relationships requires considerable homework; otherwise, even many upstream green bean importers find themselves "confused."

Linking Coffee explains that to understand these, one must first understand Ethiopia's four-tier administrative structure:

Province - Zone - Woreda - Kebele

The well-known "Yirgacheffe," according to the legally defined production areas specified by Ethiopian official regulations, is distributed across two zones, totaling eight woredas:

Gedeo Zone: Dilla, Wenago, Bule, Yirgacheffe, Kochere, Gedeb

Borena Zone: Abaya, Gelena

Therefore, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe/Gedeb coffee beans refer to coffee beans produced in Gedeb Woreda, Gedeo Zone, Ethiopia. Its rank is the same as Kochere, not a small village under Kochere town, because among the 25 village communities under Kochere town's jurisdiction, there is indeed no Gedeb. (Some coffee merchants or coffee professionals occasionally make this misplacement)

According to Linking Coffee, such misplacements are understandable. After all, Gedeb's location is indeed remote, at least 40 kilometers from the most well-known Yirgacheffe town. However, that's just to reach Gedeb town.

If you want to go deeper into villages like Worka Sakaro, Halo Bariti, Banko Gotiti, Banko Dahato, etc., you still need to travel another dozen kilometers of muddy roads, making it truly difficult to reach.

Currently, there are several common classifications for Ethiopian coffee on the market. The four major production regions divided by ECX export methods are registered in the Ethiopia Farmers' Cooperative Union (YCFCU). Cooperatives from regional villages (KEBELE), independent processing plants, cooperatives, or smallholder independent batches.

Worka Location and Gotiti Independence

Worka is located in the southeasternmost part of Yirgacheffe. In the Gedeb production area, this region previously used "Worka" as the name to export locally produced green coffee beans, or entrusted them to the Worka Cooperative for processing. However, in the past two to three years, "independent" "single-origin" sources have been discovered one by one by coffee hunters from around the world, such as BANKO GOTITI, BANKO DADHATO, HALO BARITI, etc. Gotiti village was one of the earliest village areas to be independently established a few years ago (BANKO GOTITI became independent from the large Worka Cooperative in 2012).

Many individual small farmers were originally members of the Worka Cooperative, so their coffee production skills are naturally excellent. Currently, there are about 300 member farmers who are all outstanding and full of experience and wisdom! Each person can harvest an average of 1 to 2 hectares of farmland, with most processing using traditional natural methods.

The Worka Cooperative is located in a remote area within the Yirgacheffe production region, 75 kilometers from the local coffee distribution center of Dilla town. Initially, the cooperative was formed by 305 farmers with a planting area of about 763 hectares and an annual output of nearly 460 tons, making it a relatively small-scale farmers' cooperative.

Because no chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used during coffee cultivation, the Worka smallholders have also obtained SKAL organic coffee certification recognized by the European Union. These coffees not only have organic and fair trade certification, but some even come from coffee trees as high as 2,300 meters. Such unique terroir conditions have created these unparalleled Ethiopian coffee flavors.

Harvesting and Processing

During harvest, fully ripe coffee cherries are carefully selected and placed on raised African beds to dry for 2-3 weeks. The fermentation temperature is carefully controlled to ensure proper air circulation during fermentation. It also relies on experienced farmers to regularly turn the cherry fruits to avoid damage to the green bean flavor during the drying process. Then, after removing the pulp and parchment (parchment layer), they are stored in a warehouse until the moisture content reaches 11-12% before export.

Banko Gotiti Processing Station

BANKO GOTITI is processed by the Alim washing station in Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe region. It's a quite special Mill Station surrounded by Sidamo. In this community, about 700 small coffee farmers each own 2 to 5 hectares of land using shade-grown cultivation methods. Recently, they have also purchased Eco-pulpers to reduce water waste.

Gotiti village was one of the earliest village areas to be independently established a few years ago (Banko Gotiti became independent from the large Worka Cooperative in 2012).

Many individual small farmers were originally members of the Worka Cooperative,

so their coffee production skills are naturally excellent.

Currently, there are about 300 member farmers who are all outstanding and full of experience and wisdom!

Each person can harvest an average of 1 to 2 hectares of farmland,

with most processing using traditional natural methods.

The Worka Cooperative is located in a remote area within the Yirgacheffe production region,

75 kilometers from the local coffee distribution center of Dilla town,

Initially, the cooperative was formed by 305 farmers,

with a planting area of about 763 hectares,

an annual output of nearly 460 tons, making it a relatively small-scale farmers' cooperative.

Because no chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used during coffee cultivation,

the Worka smallholders have also obtained Skal organic coffee certification recognized by the European Union.

These coffees not only have organic and fair trade certification,

but some even come from coffee trees as high as 2,300 meters.

Such unique terroir conditions have created these unparalleled Ethiopian coffee flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473