How to Drink Harar Coffee - African Mandheling - Main Flavor Profile Introduction of Harar Coffee

The Origin of Coffee: A Shepherd's Discovery

Are you still familiar with the story of the shepherd who discovered coffee? Long ago, in the southern part of Ethiopia, there was a town called "Kaffa" where some red berries grew. A shepherd noticed that after eating these berries, his sheep became unusually excited and even started dancing joyfully. He decided to taste them himself and felt his fatigue dissipate while his spirits soared, feeling revitalized. Thus, these berries began to be harvested and brewed locally by people, consumed as a refreshing food and drink, called "Kaffa," and later spread throughout the world to become "coffee."

Harar: The Wild Coffee of Ethiopia

This story also illustrates that Ethiopia is the homeland of coffee. As the birthplace of coffee and known as the cradle of native varieties, Ethiopia, besides famous regions like Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, and Jimma, also has Harar. While Yirgacheffe and Sidamo have likely become household names in coffee, this time let's discuss Harar and learn about it along the way.

The Historical City of Harar

Harar is located in the eastern part of Ethiopia and is an ancient city with a long history. It was once the capital of ancient Ethiopia and is also one of the four holy cities of Islam. It has the altitude conditions suitable for growing high-quality Arabica coffee and is the highest coffee-producing region in Ethiopia. Given Ethiopia's unique natural conditions in terms of altitude, climate, and environment, it goes without saying how excellent Harar's coffee-growing conditions are. Notably, the Black Mountain region of Harar remains one of the few places in the world where wild coffee still grows, and their wild coffee is auctioned in London annually.

The Legend of Harar Coffee

Harar is not only one of the world's finest specialty sun-dried coffees, hailed as "the coffee of the wilderness," but it's also like a beautiful legend. In an era when transportation was not yet developed, particularly when horses were the primary means of transport, high-quality purebred horses became people's pursuit and aspiration. At that time, Harar, Ethiopia possessed the world's best Arabian purebred horses, so their initial coffee grading philosophy was "quality coffee is as important as purebred horses."

Therefore, to this day, we can still see horse photos printed on the packaging bags of Harar green coffee beans. This traditional packaging has been maintained until now.

The Unique Characteristics of Harar Coffee

Just as one cannot judge a person by their appearance, although Harar green beans may look somewhat unattractive with uneven particles, their flavor is like Yemeni Mocha—it's also "handmade" coffee.

Harar coffee beans can usually be divided into three types: Longberry Harar, Shortberry Harar, and Peaberry Harar. Among them, Longberry Harar is the most popular, growing in areas ranging from the Darolebu plains at 900 meters altitude to the Chercher highlands of eastern Ethiopia at 2700 meters altitude. The beans are full and elongated, with moderate acidity and typical mocha refreshment. They have the best quality, slightly longer bean shapes, rich wine aroma, noticeable acidity, and a heavy, rich flavor with wild characteristics and intense red wine fermentation notes. The taste is very aggressive, always ready to conquer your taste buds—one could say that a cup of Harar coffee can definitely bring you an unprecedented primitive experience. Therefore, Harar also has the reputation of "African Mandheling."

Roasting and Brewing Harar Coffee

When roasting Ethiopian Harar coffee, you can choose a lighter roast to maximize the preservation of the coffee's fruit aroma. If you deepen the roast degree, the fruit flavors will decrease while the spicy notes will become more apparent. The medium-roasted Harar that we (Bird Brother's Roasting) have created, when brewed and tasted, offers moderate acidity, the aroma of roasted walnuts and honey-like sweetness from dates, along with some cherry and cedar notes, leaving a fermented red wine aftertaste in the mouth.

FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online shop 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