Differences Between Danmengqi and Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe_Danmengqi Coffee Characteristics_Is Danmengqi Coffee Expensive

90+, Level Up, medium-light roast, cocoa, Ethiopia, pour-over coffee, natural process, juicy texture, plum, French press, filter bag coffee, floral aroma, blueberry fragrance, dark chocolate, blackberry

Danch Meng, an N2-processed coffee from the 90+ Company, comes out of a collaborative series between 90+ and local traders. The beans are grown by smallholder farmers in the Gelana Abaya district of Yirgacheffe. The "N2" designation refers to an innovative natural process developed in-house by 90+, with the exact protocol kept confidential. What is known is that during drying on African raised beds, dedicated staff turn the beans with unusual frequency to improve drying uniformity.

Don't assume that simply turning the beans more often is an easy task —

the workload is anything but trivial.

Unlike conventional natural-process Yirgacheffes, this specially tended Danch Meng keeps all the high sweetness and fruit character you expect from a natural, while achieving a remarkably clean taste. For drinkers who love a heavy body, that very purity can make it feel a touch lighter than they're used to.

Ninety Plus is an internationally celebrated green coffee producer and exporter, known worldwide for sourcing rare and distinctive lots. Joseph Brodsky officially founded the company in 2007, and ever since, Ninety Plus coffees have appeared on competition stages of every size around the globe. At the 2013 World Barista Championship, three of the six finalists — representing Italy, South Korea, and Canada — all competed with Ninety Plus green beans.

Meticulous cultivation and processing, exceptional varieties, and a one-of-a-kind grading system have made Ninety Plus a top-tier, unmistakable presence in the green coffee market. Its sophisticated Profile Processing system is custom-designed for each variety, covering everything from planting and harvesting through post-harvest processing. Repeated cupping and calibration ensure that every lot expresses its signature fruit character. Ninety Plus's unique flavor grading and "password" classification system sorts its coffees by fruit-flavor intensity rather than by traditional process labels like Washed, Honey, and Natural. It still uses three tiers — W2, H2, and N2 — but because different processes create different levels of fruit intensity, you may well find a naturally processed or washed bean under the H2 label if it drinks like a honey process.

Level Up, as far as anyone can tell, is a sub-brand of 90+ Ninety Plus.

Level Up Danch Meng Coffee

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Yirgacheffe, Gelana Abaya, Dumerso

Altitude: 1700-2000 meters

Variety: Heirloom

Processing Method: Natural Process

Flavor Description:

Cocoa, raspberry, blueberry, plum, red wine, blackberry, juicy texture, floral aroma

90+ Coffee Bean Recommendations

Another 90+ coffee roasted by FrontStreet Coffee is the Zhumang, with solid guarantees on both brand and quality — and, more importantly, excellent value. A half-pound (227g) bag costs only around 90 yuan. At 15g per pour-over, one bag brews about 15 cups, working out to roughly 6 yuan per cup of single-origin coffee. Set against the dozens of yuan a café typically charges, the value is hard to beat.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Danch Meng sparks your interest in the Yirgacheffe appellation, FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe is the classic daily-drinker to start with — famous for its white jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and tea-like finish, and priced accessibly enough to be many people's first specialty bean. Yirgacheffe itself is a small town in southern Ethiopia's Sidamo region, sitting at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters with trees planted above 1,800 meters — some of the highest coffee elevations on earth — and its name became a byword for washed Ethiopian elegance long before the Commodity Exchange formally split it from Sidamo in 2010.

For another take on the same terroir, FrontStreet's natural Red Cherry lot applies full-red-cherry natural processing: only fully ripe, defect-free cherries are picked, sorted once at the mill, then laid straight onto raised beds and turned every 2-3 hours during the first days to prevent uneven heating and over-fermentation. After three to five weeks of sun-drying, workers strip the dried pulp mechanically, weather permitting, before the coffee goes to warehouse storage. Because the fruit dries on the bean, the cup keeps its classic Yirgacheffe core while gaining tropical fruit aromatics — citrusy acidity, a berry-juice juiciness, honeyed sweetness, and a cream-smooth body.

To brew either of them well, FrontStreet suggests a V60 at 90-91°C with 15g of coffee and a 1:15 ratio, ground to fine-sugar texture (EK43s setting 10, about 80% through a #20 sieve). Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, pour to 125g on the scale within about a minute, then add the final 100g once the bed drops to two-thirds, finishing your pour around 1:35. Drawdown completes at 2:00-2:10 — lift the dripper and enjoy.