Characteristics and Flavor of Ethiopian Coffee Beans: Origins and Stories of Yirgacheffe and Sidamo Coffee

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FrontStreet Coffee believes that coffee has been integrated into Ethiopia's social structure and cultural economy for hundreds of years. In Ethiopia, coffee is their cultural core and an important source of income for most people. The country is also recognized worldwide as the birthplace of coffee, highly regarded in the specialty coffee market. Almost all coffee shop menus around the world feature Ethiopian coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee is no exception. But why is Ethiopian coffee so well-regarded? FrontStreet Coffee believes that the differences between each producing region in Ethiopia are very significant, but regardless of the region, Ethiopian Arabica coffee is irresistible to many people. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will take you to explore this birthplace of coffee.

Ethiopia is located in East Africa. In the southern Kaffa region forests alone, there are as many as 5,000 native Ethiopian coffee varieties. FrontStreet Coffee understands that as Africa's largest coffee-producing country, only 60% of Ethiopia's coffee beans are used for export, while the rest are used for various forms of ceremonies, such as weddings where people make coffee with coffee beans and coffee pulp, coffee mixed with honey, and various herbs for medicinal purposes to ward off bad luck. This shows that coffee is an inseparable part of local life.

Ethiopian Coffee Culture

FrontStreet Coffee believes that for Ethiopians, coffee is both a belief and a culture. However, among all ceremonies, the most important is the coffee ceremony - the entire process of roasting coffee beans, grinding coffee powder, brewing coffee, and drinking coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee thinks this ceremony is somewhat similar to the Japanese tea ceremony, with a spiritual consciousness within it. The purpose of the ceremony is to reach conclusions, which can be used for a marriage proposal or to resolve family conflicts. The entire coffee ceremony is very lengthy, averaging about 1.5 hours. The ceremony begins with roasting coffee beans, after which a well-dressed woman places the roasted coffee beans in a pot, allowing everyone to smell the aroma of the coffee beans, and then slowly brews the coffee.

The first cup of coffee is called "Abol," which is the most important and also the most difficult to drink. When resolving conflicts, one party must bravely drink this cup and express their viewpoint. The second cup is called "Tona," made by adding water and brewing again, with a still strong taste. If one party accepts the other's viewpoint, they will finish drinking it; if the other party doesn't drink it, there won't be a third cup. The third cup is called "Baraka." When the matter is resolved and the conclusion is satisfactory, it symbolizes joy, and often the younger generation will be invited to drink this cup.

Whether in wealthy households or poor farming families, coffee ceremonies are performed. Someone once joked that the reason Ethiopia's more than 80 ethnic groups can coexist harmoniously must be attributed to coffee. Although this is a joke, given their emphasis on coffee, it's not unreasonable.

A common Ethiopian coffee phrase is "Buna dabo naw," which literally means "coffee is our bread." It demonstrates the central role coffee plays in their diet and illustrates the importance of coffee as a source of nutrition. Another common phrase is "Buna Tetu," which is an Amharic phrase literally meaning "drink coffee." It applies not only to the act of drinking coffee but also to social activities (similar to how people use the phrase "meet for coffee" in English).

Coffee Cultivation in Ethiopia

Due to administrative division changes around 1995 in Ethiopia, the biggest impact on coffee regions was that the original Sidamo province was divided into the new Sidama (accounting for a small part of the original) and most of it was incorporated into the Oromia region. Additionally, Yirgacheffe, which originally belonged to Sidamo province, is now part of the new Gedeo zone. Currently, Ethiopian coffee items on the market may have mixed naming using both new and old regional names. Here we will use the new regional divisions as a basis, combined with administrative regions, to understand Ethiopia's coffee cultivation map.

Ethiopia's coffee cultivation is mainly concentrated in the western and southern regions, with smallholder families accounting for 90% of total cultivation. Nearly 1.2 million smallholder families rely on coffee cultivation for their livelihood. Each household's cultivation area is less than 4 hectares, with an average cultivation altitude between 1,000-2,300 meters, planting density between 1,000-1,800 coffee trees per hectare, and output of nearly 600kg per hectare.

Ethiopia's coffee cultivation is divided by scale and model into:

• Forest Coffee (8-10%): Coffee trees coexist with other crops in original forests without any artificial management, and farmers regularly harvest coffee fruits.
• Semi-Forest Coffee (30-35%): Coffee tree planting areas are between forests and the surrounding areas of farmers' living spaces. Coffee trees are the same natural varieties as forest coffee, and farmers manage the coffee tree planting areas and grow other cash crops.
• Garden Coffee (50-55%): Coffee trees are planted around farmers' living areas and are mostly self-planted by farmers.
• Plantation Coffee (5-6%): Large private growers with more processing facilities and production capacity.

Nine Major Coffee Producing Regions in Ethiopia

1. Yirgacheffe (Specialty Region): Altitude 1,800-2,000 meters (Garden Coffee System)

Yirgacheffe is affiliated with the Sidamo region but was separated due to its unique flavor. In addition to the town of Yirgacheffe, it also includes three sub-regions: Wenago, Kochere, and Gelena/Abaya. Therefore, in the new Yirgacheffe grading system, Yirgacheffe A, Wenago A, Kochere A, and Gelena/Abaya A are more expensive than their B counterparts.

The so-called Yirgacheffe flavor refers to rich jasmine flower aroma, lemon fragrance, peach and almond sweetness, and tea fragrance. FrontStreet Coffee believes that describing it as "a hundred flowers blooming" is most appropriate.

Traditionally, Yirgacheffe coffee used the oldest natural processing method. However, in 1972, Ethiopia introduced Central and South American washing techniques to improve coffee quality, making the jasmine flower and citrus aromas of Yirgacheffe clearer and brighter. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the fundamental difference between washed and natural processing is that washed processing presents the most basic flavors of coffee, directly reflecting the special characteristics of the region, while natural processing adds sweetness and fermentation notes to this basic flavor.

Because of the introduction of washed processing, Yirgacheffe became a representative of world specialty coffee. After the 1970s, this region mainly produced washed coffee, becoming Ethiopia's most popular washed bean region. However, by the 21st century, natural processing techniques gradually improved, frequently introducing impressive natural beans. This is thanks to Yirgacheffe's coffee trader, Baghsh, who missed the traditional natural bean flavor and couldn't bear to see natural processing gradually replaced by washed processing. So he improved the natural bean processing method, enhanced flavor, reduced defect ratios, and launched three extremely famous Yirgacheffe natural beans: Idido Misty Valley, Beloya, and Aricha.

In addition to washed and natural processing, there are other processing methods such as honey and anaerobic. FrontStreet Coffee previously cup-tested a honey-processed Yirgacheffe, which added complexity while maintaining the original basic flavor. The mouthfeel was lighter compared to natural Yirgacheffe but heavier than washed Yirgacheffe.

2. Sidamo (Specialty Region): Altitude 1,400-2,200 meters (Garden Coffee System)

Finely washed or natural Sidamo coffee typically has obvious sweetness, with strawberry and berry flavors favored by many coffee enthusiasts, commanding prices no less than FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe coffee. Sidamo and Yirgacheffe have similar varieties, with medium-sized beans but also dwarf small-grain varieties that farmers often sell separately. Currently, the most notable Sidamo coffee bean is FrontStreet Coffee's "Horsemen." After making its debut at the Ethiopia TOH (Taste of Harvest) competition in 2017, it caused a sensation, breaking Geisha's monopoly in brewing competitions and becoming the only coffee that can compete with it. Horsemen comes from a sub-region called Hambela under the Guji region. Like Yirgacheffe, Guji was originally part of Sidamo but became independent due to its outstanding regional flavor. However, when mentioning Guji today, it is still generally considered part of the Sidamo region.

Understanding the origin of Horsemen and its development after winning the championship helps explain the inconsistencies in flavor before and after. This is also why FrontStreet Coffee continuously explores coffee beans from around the world - only through constant experimentation can one understand these changes. Today, Horsemen has developed to the 2025 version. To present the refined floral and fruity flavors of the Sidamo region while maintaining the caramelized aroma of coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters used medium-light roasting to present this FrontStreet Coffee Horsemen bean.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that the new season's FrontStreet Coffee Horsemen performs well in both dry aroma and taste. First, it smells more intense fruity than last year's 8.0 version, with complex aromas of guava, jackfruit, apricot, dried fruit, citrus, and flowers. When hot water is added, honey and berry sweetness can be smelled. Through slurping, FrontStreet Coffee first experiences multiple fruit notes in this FrontStreet Coffee Sidamo natural Horsemen - dried mango, jackfruit, orange, passion fruit, with clear fruit juice sensation and round mouthfeel. As the temperature slightly drops, the sweet freshness of peach and berry acidity begin to emerge, with a lingering aftertaste similar to drinking black tea after swallowing.

3. Limu (Specialty Region): Altitude 1,200-2,000 meters (Garden, Forest, Semi-Forest, Plantation Coffee Systems)

With limited production mainly exported to European and American markets, it's not easy to purchase in Taiwan, but it's very popular in Europe and America. It has three processing methods: washed, natural, and semi-washed. Limu's body viscosity is noticeably lower, and its floral and citrus expressions are inferior to Yirgacheffe and Sidamo, but it has a grassy fragrance and brown sugar aroma with bright fruit acidity.

4. Harar (Specialty Region): Altitude 1,500-2,400 meters (Garden Coffee System)

Harar exclusively uses natural processing and is an ancient eastern city. However, coffee is not grown in the urban area itself. So-called Harar coffee refers to coffee produced in the Harar Highlands of the greater Harar region. Due to annual rainfall of only 1,000 millimeters, all coffee is processed using natural methods. In terms of flavor, Harar coffee is famous for its special "complex aroma," typical of ancient early flavors. It stands alongside Yirgacheffe as the "dual stars."

If Harar's defective beans can be sorted cleanly, it's easy to taste berry fragrance with a pleasant fermented complexity. However, due to various factors, Harar coffee quality has been unstable in recent years, and the grading system is not reliable, so cup testing or trial drinking is essential when purchasing.

5. Jimma (Major Commercial Bean Region): Altitude 1,350-1,850 meters (Forest/Semi-Forest System)

Jimma is the capital of the Kaffa forest or Kaffa province. Its English spelling is quite inconsistent, mostly appearing as "jimma" on maps but as "Djimmah" on coffee burlap bags. This is Ethiopia's largest coffee-producing region, accounting for 1/3 of exports.

The Kaffa forest is famous for its original wild varieties, and Jimma is the distribution center for Kaffa in this region. Farmers are accustomed to transporting harvested coffee from forest areas to Jimma, where hundreds or thousands of varieties are mixed together and sold as commercial beans, causing the flavors of many delicious varieties to be masked.

Washed specialty Jimma, while lacking Yirgacheffe's citrus aroma and floral notes, has a quite clean and transparent flavor profile similar to Central American specialty coffee. Commercial-grade specialty Jimma is very common in Taiwan, and with luck, one can buy reasonably priced Jimma that reveals clear lemon peel fragrance, no less impressive than Sidamo. Overall, Jimma has better flavor than Brazil's major commercial bean Santos, making it a good medium-to-low-priced blend component.

6. Illubabor (Major Commercial Bean Region): Altitude 1,350-1,850 meters (Forest/Semi-Forest Coffee System)

This region is located in western Ethiopia, bordering Sudan, and is the westernmost producing region. The coffee gene complexity is second only to the Kaffa forest. The beans are noticeably larger than Yirgacheffe and Sidamo, with lower fruit acidity, good viscosity, and balanced flavor. Most coffee from this area is transported to Jimma for mixing and rarely sold independently.

7. Gimbi, Lekempti (Major Commercial Bean Region): Altitude 1,500-1,800 meters (Forest/Semi-Forest Coffee System)

This region has both natural and washed beans, with beans similar to Harar's elongated shape, and also small amounts of specialty-grade coffee popular in Europe and America. Most are hailed as the "poor man's Harar," with fruit acidity and fruit flavors more pronounced than Illubabor, with bright flavors.

8. Tepi, Bebeka (Major Commercial Bean Region): Altitude 500-1,900 meters (Garden/Forest/Semi-Forest Coffee System)

The two regions are very close, with Tepi north of Bebeka. There are corporately managed coffee plantations, and garden systems have been promoted in recent years to increase farmer income, with annual production of about 3,000 tons. Both areas have wild coffee with low production and flavors completely different from Harar and Yirgacheffe. Low fruit acidity is the biggest characteristic, making it suitable for blend beans. Both natural and washed processing are available.

9. Lake Tana (Alternative Region): Altitude 1,840 meters (Forest System)

Monastery coffee, with surrounding forest coffee annual production of less than 10 tons. It's hardly considered a region. The area's numerous Eastern Orthodox monasteries, churches, religious murals, and myths create the world's most "divine" coffee.

European monastery monks pioneered local coffee cultivation, later managed by coffee communities or cooperatives in villages around the town. There are no dedicated plantations here; coffee trees naturally scatter in forests and gardens. During harvest seasons, the Ethiopian Coffee Trading Corporation comes to town to purchase coffee beans collected by farmers.

Red Cherry Project

The so-called Red Cherry actually refers to the Red Cherry Project, jointly initiated by Dutch trader Trabocca and local farmers, aiming to improve the quality of small-scale farms. When harvesting coffee fruits, not only must fully red, high-maturity fruits be picked, but they must also be harvested entirely by hand - this is just the most basic requirement. There are also corresponding requirements for coffee bean processing methods.

The Red Cherry Project is also an enhancement method that encourages farms to invest more effort in the process of sorting and picking beans. These coffees are relatively higher in price. Main implementing regions include Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Bench Maji, Lekempti, Kembata, Illubabor, Harar, Limu, etc. These all have unique flavors that can fully showcase Ethiopian coffee characteristics. However, FrontStreet Coffee believes that current specialty coffee is actually produced using Red Cherry Project methods, but the unique term "Red Cherry Coffee" still belongs exclusively to Ethiopia. Red Cherry coffee will be printed with Trabocca on its burlap bags.

Ethiopian Coffee Varieties

Ethiopia has nearly 2,000 recorded coffee varieties (of which 1,927 are native varieties and 128 are introduced foreign varieties). Ethiopian coffee is not cultivated by variety separation, which leads to mixed coffee beans during harvest. This results in noticeably uneven bean sizes in appearance. Coffee varieties are usually labeled as "local Ethiopian native varieties."

However, FrontStreet Coffee found that at this year's COE (Cup of Excellence) held in Ethiopia, the description of coffee varieties no longer reads "local Ethiopian native varieties." Instead, numbers like 74158 and 74110 appeared, as well as KURUME and TYPICA. FrontStreet Coffee photographed the 22nd-place coffee bean, which is of the Typica variety, located in the West Arsi region of Sidamo. Currently, this region's fame doesn't match Yirgacheffe or Guji, but among the 28 beans that won COE awards this year, 9 came from this region.

Ethiopian Coffee Bean Processing Methods

Ethiopia's coffee processing methods are mainly natural and washed, with washed processing accounting for a larger proportion. The biggest difference between washed and natural methods lies in the role of coffee pulp. The washed processing method involves selecting ripe coffee fruits, removing skin and pulp for water washing fermentation, and finally drying to 12% moisture content. The natural processing method eliminates the water washing fermentation process, directly drying the selected ripe coffee fruits until reaching 12% moisture content, and finally removing the skin and pulp.

If you're trying Ethiopian coffee beans for the first time, FrontStreet Coffee would recommend starting with washed-processed coffee beans because they better reflect the original flavors of Ethiopian coffee beans - clear acidity and elegant floral and fruity notes. Natural-processed coffee beans add richness and sweetness on top of this foundation.

Ethiopian Coffee Bean Grading

ECX (Ethiopian Commodity Exchange) defines grading based on coffee bean defect rates: G1 and G2. G1 represents no more than 3 defective beans per 300g of green beans, while G2 represents 4-12 defective beans per 300g of green beans.

In addition, there are grading definitions based on flavor evaluation, using SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) cupping methods to evaluate G1 and G2 grade coffee beans. Scoring above 85 points is graded as Q1, while 80-84.75 points is graded as Q2.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Coffee Roasting Recommendations

The most distinctive flavor of Yirgacheffe coffee is its refined acidity and rich floral and fruity notes. To maximize this flavor characteristic, FrontStreet Coffee believes that light roasting is most suitable. Whether natural or washed processed Yirgacheffe coffee beans, light roasting maximizes their unique flavors. However, there are also medium to dark roasted Yirgacheffe coffees on the market today, which somewhat weaken its acidity while enhancing its body thickness - it's a matter of personal preference, but light roasted Yirgacheffe coffee remains mainstream.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Coffee Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a V60 dripper for light roasted coffee beans, with water temperature around 90°C, water-to-coffee ratio of 1:15, coffee amount of 15g, and medium-fine grind (80% pass-through rate on China #20 standard sieve). In terms of brewing technique, FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, with bloom water amount twice the coffee powder - that is, 30g water for 30 seconds bloom. After small stream circular pouring to 125g, segment again, and continue pouring to 225g when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed. The entire extraction time is 2 minutes.

Flavor Descriptions

FrontStreet Coffee Natural Yirgacheffe Coffee: Has a light fermented wine aroma, rich mouthfeel, with citrus fragrance, honey sweetness, cocoa flavors, and a persistent aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee Washed Yirgacheffe Coffee: The acidity is brighter and more lively, with lemon acidity, citrus fragrance, refreshing mouthfeel, and some black tea sensation in the finish.

In general, both FrontStreet Coffee natural Yirgacheffe coffee and FrontStreet Coffee washed Yirgacheffe coffee have fruit acidity, with obvious fruit juice sensation, similar to fruits like lemon and citrus.

FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Coffee Roasting Recommendations

Actually, the roasting approach for Sidamo coffee is similar to Yirgacheffe coffee - both aim to highlight its bright berry characteristics. FrontStreet Coffee believes that light roasting is most suitable. Below is an example using FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Natural Horsemen 4.0.

FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Coffee Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a V60 dripper for light roasted coffee beans, with water temperature around 90°C, water-to-coffee ratio of 1:15, coffee amount of 15g, and medium-fine grind (80% pass-through rate on China #20 standard sieve).

Perhaps observant readers will notice that the grind size for this FrontStreet Coffee Sidamo Natural Horsemen coffee bean is different from the Yirgacheffe grind size mentioned earlier. Each coffee bean has a different optimal grind size due to factors like variety, altitude, processing method, and roasting. Therefore, when FrontStreet Coffee receives a new roasted bean, it always sieves first to determine the appropriate hand drip grind.

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, with bloom water amount twice the coffee powder - that is, 30g water for 30 seconds bloom. After small stream circular pouring to 125g, segment again, and continue pouring to 225g when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed. The entire extraction time is 2 minutes.

[FrontStreet Coffee Sidamo Natural Horsemen 4.0] Flavor Description

Citrus acidity, full-bodied berry juice sensation, strawberry, cream, lemon black tea sensation, with persistent sweetness.

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