Ethiopian Coffee Bean Cultivation Guide - Where to Buy and How to Purchase

Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Cafe Style (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

Ethiopia: The Birthplace of Coffee

Ethiopia is located between 3 and 14 degrees north latitude, with coffee tree cultivation areas covering nearly 600,000 hectares. The southern and eastern regions of the country have two rainy seasons each year, while the western region has only one. This distribution of rainy seasons allows Ethiopia to harvest coffee year-round. Coffee grows at altitudes between 550-2,750 meters, with western and southern soils consisting of volcanic rock, rich in minerals and slightly acidic. With an average annual temperature between 15-25 degrees Celsius, it provides an excellent growing environment for Arabica coffee.

As of 2006, Ethiopia produced 300,000 tons of coffee, remaining Africa's largest Arabica-producing country and ranking fifth in the world. Although its production volume may not be considered top-tier, its rich and diverse coffee cultivation systems are unparalleled.

Four Major Coffee Systems

Ethiopia has four major coffee systems throughout the country:

• Forest Coffee
• Semi-Forest Coffee
• Garden Coffee
• Plantation Coffee

Ethiopian coffee beans are cultivated using traditional organic methods without fertilizers or pesticides, though not all have received international certification.

Forest Coffee

Forest coffee refers to wild coffee, accounting for 10% of Ethiopia's total production. It is distributed in the wild coffee forest areas of the western and southwestern regions, known as the Kaffa Forest. The dense trees here provide the most natural shade for coffee trees. No artificial care is needed - everything is managed by Mother Nature. Coffee farmers simply harvest directly from the forest land.

Semi-Forest Coffee

Semi-forest coffee refers to semi-wild coffee, also distributed in the western and southwestern Kaffa Forest, accounting for 35% of Ethiopia's coffee production.

Farmers in the forest coffee system select small patches of wild forestland to increase production. They manually prune overly dense branches and leaves to balance shade and sunlight, assisting coffee trees in photosynthesis and growth. They also weed once a year to increase coffee yields. In other words, this system uses a semi-natural, semi-artificial approach to cultivate coffee trees.

Garden Coffee

Farmers plant coffee trees in their own backyards or farmland, intercropping with other crops. Although the density of coffee trees is lowest, with only 1,000-1,800 trees per hectare, it is the most popular method because the intercropping approach best meets farmers' livelihood needs. It is currently the main cultivation method for Ethiopian coffee. The small-scale farming of garden coffee is mainly distributed in the southern Sidamo region and southeastern areas. This system accounts for 50% of Ethiopia's coffee production and is receiving increasing attention, with the government actively promoting garden coffee cultivation methods.

Plantation Coffee

This system adopts modern agricultural management practices, with regulations regarding seedling cultivation, pruning, fertilization, pesticide application, and planting density. It is currently the only non-organic cultivation method, accounting for only 5% of the national annual production.

From the four major systems mentioned above, it can be seen that unlike the corporate and technologically efficient cultivation in Central and South America, Ethiopian coffee largely uses a mixture of wild and artificial cultivation methods, making production difficult to increase. However, Ethiopian agricultural experts are not discouraged. They are already cultivating high-yield, high-quality Arabica hybrid coffee trees, striving to close the production gap with Central and South America.

Ethiopian Coffee Bean Classification

Ethiopian coffee beans are divided into five grades:

Grade 1 and Grade 2 are washed beans.

Washed bean Grade 1 represents 0-3 defective beans per 300 grams of raw beans;

Grade 2 represents 4-12 defective beans per 300 grams.

Grade 1 washed beans are extremely rare and generally difficult to purchase. Currently, Ethiopia's exported washed beans are all Grade 2.

Natural processed beans are graded as Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, or Grade 5. Although Grade 4 has significantly fewer defective beans than Grade 5, coffee farmers claim that to save on export taxes, they often declare higher-quality Grade 4 beans as Grade 5 to reduce expenses. This might just be a marketing tactic, as Grade 5 quality is indeed not as good as Grade 4.

Ethiopian beans are easily recognizable. The beans are mostly small and slender in shape - so-called 'longberry' - and often mixed with small oval-shaped 'shortberry' beans, appearing uneven in size and irregular in appearance.

Commercial bulk beans of Grade 4 or Grade 5 are mostly mixed with hundreds of different varieties from various producing regions, so the phenomenon of uneven bean appearance is most obvious, and they are not easy to roast evenly.

The Rich Diversity of Ethiopian Coffee

No one, not even official Ethiopian research institutions, can say for certain how many Arabica subspecies exist here. The coffee varieties grown by cooperatives on one mountain are definitely different from those grown on another mountain. Even small farmers in the same region grow different coffee varieties.

Some estimate that Ethiopia has at least 2,000 coffee varieties, with some even suggesting over 4,500 varieties. Compared to the main Bourbon variety 'SL28' of neighboring Kenya or the robust appearance of Typica in Central and South America and Asia, Ethiopian beans may appear somewhat malnourished. But you can't judge coffee by its appearance - the citrus aroma of Ethiopian coffee is considered world-class. Whether it's instant coffee or freshly ground coffee, you can smell the prominent orange or lemon fragrance during extraction. The rich floral, fruity, and sweet-sour aromas upon entry are characteristics of Ethiopian coffee, though the body or thickness is somewhat lacking. The biggest drawback is the tendency for uneven roasting, especially with natural processed beans. Even the best Grade 3 Harar natural processed beans often show uneven coloration - this is Ethiopian coffee's biggest flaw, but fortunately, it doesn't affect its excellent flavor. For coffee enthusiasts, the appearance of the beans doesn't matter as much as taste. Ethiopian washed beans are much more stable than natural processed beans, whose flavor varies greatly from year to year. It's essential to cup test several times before making large purchases.

If you get good natural processed beans, their flavor depth far exceeds that of washed beans; but if you get improperly processed natural beans, you'll certainly be disappointed - this is the heartfelt sentiment of many coffee enthusiasts.

Ethiopian Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Ethiopian coffee beans - washed Yirgacheffe G1 [Kochere] - offer sufficient guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value for money. A half-pound (227 grams) package costs only about 75 yuan. Calculating at 15 grams per pour-over coffee, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each single-origin coffee costing only about 5 yuan. Compared to cafés that sell coffee for dozens of yuan per cup, this represents extremely high value.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide 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