Introduction to Ethiopian Coffee Bean Cultivation_Where to Buy Ethiopian Coffee Beans

Ethiopia's Coffee Paradise

Ethiopia lies between 3 and 14 degrees north latitude, and its coffee-growing areas cover nearly 600000 hectares. The south and east of the country get two rainy seasons a year, while the west gets only one. That distribution lets Ethiopia harvest coffee year-round. Coffee grows at altitudes between 550 and 2750 meters, and the soils of the west and south are volcanic rock — rich in minerals and slightly acidic. Average annual temperatures run from 15 to 25 degrees Celsius, creating an excellent environment for Arabica.

As of 2006, Ethiopia produced 300000 tons of coffee, remaining Africa's largest Arabica producer and ranking fifth worldwide. Its output may not top the charts, but its rich and varied cultivation systems are unmatched anywhere in the world.

Four Major Coffee Systems

Ethiopia has four major coffee systems:

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

Ethiopian coffee has traditionally been grown without fertilizers or pesticides, following organic methods, though not all of it has received international certification.

Forest Coffee

This is wild coffee, accounting for 10% of Ethiopia's national production. It is found in the wild coffee forests of the west and southwest, particularly in the famous Kaffa Forest. There, dense trees give the coffee the most natural shade possible. No artificial care is needed — nature runs the entire life cycle, and farmers simply harvest from the forest floor.

Semi-Forest Coffee

This is semi-wild coffee, also found in the western and southwestern Kaffa Forest, and it accounts for 35% of Ethiopia's coffee production. To raise yields, farmers in the forest system select small plots within the wild forest, manually trim overly dense branches and leaves to balance shade and sunlight, help the trees photosynthesize and grow, and weed once a year to increase production. It is a half-natural, half-managed approach.

Garden Coffee

Farmers plant coffee trees in their backyards or fields, intercropped with other crops. Tree density is the lowest of the four systems at only 1000-1800 plants per hectare, but the method is the most popular because intercropping best suits farmers' livelihoods, and it is currently the primary way Ethiopian coffee is grown. Garden coffee's smallholder plots are concentrated mainly in the southern Sidamo region and the southeast. This system accounts for 50% of Ethiopia's coffee production and is drawing growing attention, with the government actively promoting it.

Plantation Coffee

This system uses modern agricultural management, with rules governing seedling cultivation, pruning, fertilization, pesticide application and planting density. It is currently the only non-organic method, and it accounts for just 5% of national annual production.

From these four systems, it is clear that unlike the corporate, technology-driven, high-efficiency cultivation of Central and South America, Ethiopian coffee largely mixes wild and managed methods, which makes raising yields difficult. Even so, Ethiopian agricultural experts remain undeterred, developing high-yield, high-quality Arabica hybrids to close the production gap with Central and South America.

Ethiopian Coffee Bean Classification

Ethiopian coffee is divided into five grades:

• Grade 1 and Grade 2 are washed beans

Washed Grade 1 means 0-3 defective beans per 300 grams of green coffee. Grade 2 means 4-12 defective beans per 300 grams. Grade 1 washed beans are extremely rare and generally difficult to buy, so the washed beans Ethiopia exports today 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 defects than Grade 5, farmers often declare higher-quality Grade 4 beans as Grade 5 to save on export tax. That may be no more than a marketing tactic, since Grade 5 quality is indeed inferior to Grade 4.

Ethiopian beans are easy to recognize. Most are small and slender, long-shaped beans known as "longberry," often mixed with small oval "shortberry" beans, so they look uneven in size and inconsistent in appearance.

Commercial Grade 4 or Grade 5 beans typically blend hundreds of different varieties from various regions, which makes the uneven appearance most obvious and makes even roasting difficult.

Ethiopia's Coffee Diversity

How many Arabica subspecies exist here? Even Ethiopia's official research units cannot say for certain. The varieties a cooperative cultivates on one mountain are definitely different from those on another, and even smallholders in the same region grow different varieties.

Some estimate that Ethiopia has at least 2000 coffee varieties, with some claims exceeding 4500. Compared with neighboring Kenya's main varieties, such as Bourbon SL28, or the vigorous Typica of Central and South America and Asia, Ethiopian beans can look a little undernourished. But you should not judge a bean by its looks — Ethiopian coffee's citrus aroma is considered world-class. Whether instant or freshly ground, you can smell a prominent orange or lemon fragrance during extraction. The intense floral, fruity and sweet-sour aromas on entry are Ethiopian hallmarks, though body and viscosity are slightly lacking. The biggest drawback is that it roasts unevenly, especially natural processed beans. Even the best Grade 3 Harrar natural often shows uneven bean color — Ethiopian coffee's greatest defect, though fortunately it does not hurt the flavor. For enthusiasts, how a bean looks matters far less than how it tastes. Ethiopian washed beans are much more consistent than natural processed beans, whose flavor varies greatly from year to year, so multiple cuppings are essential before buying in bulk.

Get good natural processed beans and their flavor depth far exceeds that of washed beans. Get poorly processed natural beans and the result will surely disappoint — a feeling many coffee lovers know well.

Ethiopian Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Ethiopian coffee — washed Yirgacheffe G1 [Kochere] — comes with full guarantees on both brand and quality. More importantly, the value is excellent: a half-pound (227 grams) package costs only about 75 RMB. At 15 grams per pour-over, one package makes 15 cups, putting each single-origin cup at only about 5 RMB. Compared with cafés charging dozens of RMB a cup, that is outstanding value.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Ethiopia's diversity is what makes it such an adventure, and FrontStreet Coffee roasts a range of lots that map onto that diversity. Start with our washed Yirgacheffe — clear jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity, the signature of a small southern Ethiopian town where mist and cool, humid air nurture thousands of coffee trees, giving a light, elegant, tea-like cup that drinks like a clean lemon tea. Our Gudingding Cooperative coffee, from the Woka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe, shows the same washed clarity from a slightly different angle: the pulp is removed before drying, so the coffee's own aromatics come through more transparently, with citrus and lemon notes and elegant white florals.

Natural processed Ethiopian coffee is where the flavor depth really opens up. Our Red Cherry Plan is an early pioneer of whole-ripe-cherry natural processing, and FrontStreet Coffee roasts it medium-light so the cup shows ripe fruit on the nose, clear fermented and berry notes on entry, then citrus acidity and a creamy smoothness as it cools, finishing with ripe-grape juice. Our Hua Kui comes from the Hambella area of Guji in Sidamo, where cherries are dried on raised beds for 21 days with constant turning and regular hand-sorting of defects; a medium-light roast reveals a light fermented wine note with florals, citrus and mango, a thick honeyed sweetness, cocoa notes and a persistent finish.

And for a bean that tastes like the origin itself, our Kafa Forest coffee comes from the Kaffa Forest in southwestern Ethiopia — a UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve and the birthplace of Arabica, where trees grow at 1400-2100 meters in shade. Roasted medium-light, the ground coffee shows clear white florals, with bright lemon acidity, sweet orange and bergamot on the palate and a faint melon-and-nut sweetness on the finish, with a green-tea-like body.