Introduction to Washed Yirgacheffe: How to Brew and Ratios

Professional coffee knowledge exchange, more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style)

FrontStreet Coffee · Introduction to the Origin, Brewing, Flavor, and Taste Characteristics of Washed Yirgacheffe

What kind of existence is Yirgacheffe from Ethiopia? In FrontStreet Coffee's opinion, it is a fine blend of flowers and fruits. The most prominent features of FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe are its floral aroma and lemon-like acidity. This fresh and clean flavor and mouthfeel bring an indescribable experience. FrontStreet Coffee believes that FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe is a suitable choice for beginners because it can be clearly distinguished from espresso, and more importantly, it is a coffee that doesn't taste like coffee, breaking people's traditional impression of coffee and giving you a comfortable feeling of flowers stimulating your taste buds and nasal olfactory cells.

The Yirgacheffe production area is located in Ethiopia, the birthplace of Arabica coffee beans. It is a natural wetland, so Yirgacheffe originally meant "let us settle and thrive on this wetland." Originally part of the Sidama region, it was independently established as one of Ethiopia's famous coffee producing areas because the coffee beans produced near Yirgacheffe town have unique floral and citrus flavors. To this day, fewer and fewer people use "Yirgacheffe Sidamo" to search for Yirgacheffe coffee beans.

Washed Method

The washed method uses water and fermentation to remove the skin, pulp, and mucilage. Farms using the washed method must build washing pools and be able to introduce a continuous supply of fresh water. During processing, the fermented beans are placed in the pool and moved back and forth, using the friction of the beans and the power of flowing water to wash the coffee beans until they are smooth and clean. After washing, the coffee beans are still wrapped in the parchment layer with a moisture content of 50%. They must be dried to reduce the moisture content to 12%, otherwise they will continue to ferment and become moldy and spoiled. The better processing method is sun-drying, although the process is complicated and takes 1-3 weeks, the flavor is excellent and quite popular.

What are the steps of the washed processing method?

Cleaning Collection/Floatation/Rinse — Peeling/Pulping — Fermentation/Degumming — Washing — Drying — Storage

What are the specific procedures for each of these steps?

Cleaning Collection/Floatation/Rinse:

After picking, coffee cherries are immediately sent for processing, usually within 6 to 12 hours after picking. Coffee cherries are first weighed and classified, then placed in water tanks for soaking treatment, with the purpose of selecting fruits that float due to insufficient quality.

Peeling/Pulping:

Next, coffee cherries are sent to a pulper for peeling. This step is to remove the skin and pulp of the coffee cherries.

Fermentation/Degumming:

Coffee fruits with pulp and skin removed are sent to fermentation tanks or barrels for static fermentation for 18 to 36 hours. The fermentation time is determined by the temperature during fermentation. During the fermentation process, yeast produces enzymes, and lactic acid bacteria break down the sugars in the coffee pectin. Lipids, proteins, and acids in the sugars are degraded and converted into alcohol acids. The smell, color, and pH of the coffee change, and the pectin composition of the coffee also changes.

Washing:

After fermentation and degumming, coffee cherries in the pool are added with an appropriate amount of water for cleaning treatment. During the cleaning process, the pectin decomposition products on the surface of coffee beans are removed by stirring. After cleaning, only the coffee parchment, silver skin, and green beans remain.

Drying:

The washed coffee beans are sorted to remove defective coffee beans. They are then sent to drying places (waterproof cloth, cement floors, raised beds, etc.) for drying treatment. The drying time depends on factors such as environmental climate and can generally range from 5 to 14 days. At this time, the moisture content of coffee beans will drop from 55% to 11%.

Storage:

Dried coffee beans are called parchment beans - green coffee beans with parchment. Parchment beans are sent to warehouses for storage and will be dehulled again before export.

What are the characteristics of washed processed coffee beans?

FrontStreet Coffee believes that washed processed coffee has more obvious acidity, better cleanliness, medium body, and the most consistent green bean quality. African coffee producing areas often use the washed processing method, which allows coffee beans from African regions to better express citrus-like bright acidity.

How to brew washed processed coffee beans?

When roasting washed processed coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee generally uses medium-light roast. Medium-light roasted coffee beans can retain more acidity in the coffee beans, allowing the coffee beans to clearly express clean and bright acidity after roasting. Therefore, when brewing medium-light roasted coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a water temperature of 90-91°C. Too high a water temperature will extract woody and other unpleasant flavors from medium-light roasted coffee beans, while too low a water temperature will not fully extract the acidic flavors. Next, let's use FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Gotiti from FrontStreet Coffee's bean list as a brewing example.

FrontStreet Coffee · Ethiopia Washed Yirgacheffe Gotiti

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Yirgacheffe

Altitude: 1800-2000 meters

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: Local heirloom

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters

Grind: Fuji 3.5 Water Temperature: 90°C Brewing Process: Pour 25g of water for 30-second bloom, segment when pouring to 120g of water, finish brewing at 226g. Total Time: 2 minutes 5 seconds.

The V60 conical filter has a larger opening, and its unique spiral ribs allow air to be discharged more easily, thereby improving extraction quality. The mouthfeel may not be thick enough, but its high concentration brings out sweet and sour flavors and distinct aromas, which is one of its major characteristics. Moreover, it can be paired with different pouring methods and Kalita three-hole trapezoidal filter 0 transparent resin.

Flavor: Aroma of lemon and nuts, with a lemon acidity upon entry, sucrose sweetness, with a light floral note, and an oolong tea aftertaste.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473