Yirgacheffe G1|Koke Station Processing Plant|Honey Process Coffee Beans

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Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Koke Honey G1

Flavor Description: Green plum, orange, caramel, lychee, medium smooth body, rounded acidity, honey syrup mouthfeel.

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Yirgacheffe

Producer: Koke Station

Variety: Heirloom

Grade: Honey Process G1

Altitude: 1,800 to 2,200 meters

Processing Method: Traditional honey process

Harvest Period: October to February each year

Certification: N/A

Introduction

Since the ECX system was implemented in 2008, most coffee green beans have been auctioned and sold through it. Cooperatives, however, fall outside that jurisdiction and can negotiate, bargain and export directly with buyers.

Koke Cooperative was established in the 1970s and is one of the 26 member unions of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union (YCFCU). YCFCU currently represents more than 50,000 coffee farmers belonging to over 300,000 family representatives. It was established in June 2002, and all 26 unions are located in the Gedeo region of southern Ethiopia, a famous and important coffee-producing region.

Koke Cooperative is one of the YCFCU member cooperatives, with more than 4,000 members, and most smallholders farm less than two hectares of land.

The cooperative sits in the high-altitude valleys around Yirgacheffe town, with annual rainfall of about 1400-1800 mm. Local smallholders grow coffee at around 2,000 meters, where cool mountain air lets the coffee mature slowly in good soil and a healthy ecosystem. They harvest fully ripe red cherries from December to February each year. Like other cooperatives, Koke has excellent conditions for producing top-quality coffee: high altitude, excellent processing techniques, nutrient-rich soil and Ethiopian heirloom varieties.

Koke Station is a green bean processing station belonging to a cooperative of 4,000 local smallholder coffee farming families. It sits in the Yirgacheffe producing area and is one of the YCFCU cooperative unions. These smallholders have an average coffee cultivation area of less than 2 hectares, at planting altitudes of approximately 1,800 to 2,200 meters. The coffee varieties are mainly a mix of Typica and Heirloom (local native varieties). Every one to two years member farmers hold elections to choose an executive committee, which can decide on purchasing new equipment, exchanging business information among members and payment methods for transactions. YCFCU also assigns professional managers to the cooperatives to advise on harvesting, production and other processes, in order to raise yields and improve quality. Cooperatives let the farmers under their umbrella avoid being exploited at low prices by buyers, and when farmers face economic difficulty the cooperative can also provide loan assistance, which benefits both the farmers and coffee production.

This batch of Yirgacheffe G1 Koke Station honey process has undergone special green bean micro-processing, presenting a rare honey-process mouthfeel. Ethiopian coffees are typically either washed or natural, so this honey process stands out for its sweet flavors and makes an excellent coffee.

Flavor Description: Green plum, orange, caramel, lychee, medium smooth body, rounded acidity, honey syrup mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee is a roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans, and it also provides online store services.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To explore the Yirgacheffe character this Koke honey lot belongs to, start with FrontStreet's Washed Yirgacheffe, the classic entry point to the region: known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity and a tea-like body, at a friendly price that has made it the first specialty bean for many drinkers. Yirgacheffe is a small town in the Sidamo zone of southern Ethiopia at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters, where the coffee trees are planted above 1,800 meters, making it one of the highest coffee regions in the world; the name has become shorthand for Ethiopian specialty coffee thanks to its highly recognizable white florals and lemon-citrus acidity, and it was only in 2010, once its fame had grown so large, that the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange separated it from the Sidamo region. If you prefer a natural, FrontStreet's Yirgacheffe Red Cherry uses whole ripe cherry fruit: only fully mature, sound cherries are taken, screened at the mill and dried on raised beds, with a gentle natural process that keeps the classic Yirgacheffe profile while adding tropical fruit, berry juice, honeyed sweetness and creamy smoothness. FrontStreet generally recommends a V60, 90-91°C water, 15g of coffee and a 1:15 ratio at a fine granulated-sugar grind (EK43s setting 10, or 80% through a #20 sieve), brewed in three stages: a 30g bloom for 30 seconds, then to 125g, then to about 225g, finishing in 2 to 2 minutes 10 seconds.