Ethiopian Coffee | Guji Layo Tiraga | Guji Roasting/Pour-over Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee Premium Recommendation: Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry | Sidamo Guji Flower Queen

Ethiopia Guji Layo Tiraga

Ethiopia Guji Layo Tiraga washed

Production Country: Ethiopia

Variety: Ethiopia Heirloom Varietals

Region: Uraga, Guji

Cooperative: Layo Tiraga Cooperative

Producers: 795 nearby farmers

Altitude: 2100-2200 meters

Processing Method: Washed

Flavor Notes: Sweet papaya, honeysuckle, peach

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Recommendations:

These washed Guji beans are not especially dense, so a standard roast profile works well. Start with medium heat and the damper at 20%. At the browning point, increase heat to build aroma and open the damper to 50%. At first crack, set the damper to 80% and adjust heat according to the ROR. We recommend dropping the beans at 13°C of development after first crack for a light roast that preserves the floral and fruity aromatics. If you prefer a fuller body and a sweeter cup, you can cut the heat and coast to 10°C of development after first crack — the coffee will develop even more beautifully.

Pour-over Technique Recommendations:

V60 dripper, medium-fine grind, water-to-coffee ratio 1:16, water temperature 88-90°C

Other Brewing Recommendations:

French Press: Medium grind, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, water temperature 87-89°C

Siphon: Medium-fine grind, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, water temperature 87-89°C

Origin Story

This coffee comes from the Layo Tiraga Cooperative in Guji (also spelled Layo Teraga or Layo Taraga), marketed and sold through the Oromia Cooperative Union. The union also handles hulling, sorting, and packaging before export, and is equipped with some of Ethiopia's most advanced facilities.

Guji was once classified as part of the Sidamo region. In recent years, however, as new washing stations and cooperatives multiplied and coffee quality became increasingly impressive, Guji has earned recognition as an independent region in its own right.

The cherries are harvested by 795 smallholder farmers living around the washing station, all growing at altitudes above 2100-2200 meters. After picking, the fruit goes to cherry collection points and from there to the washing station. Each farmer owns roughly 1,500 coffee trees or fewer, on an average plot of one hectare. Only organic fertilizers are used. The trees are rarely pruned, and farmers deliver their freshly picked cherries to the collection points every day.

The farmers grow mixed varieties, including a local one called Sedancho, but most are plants transplanted from wild heirloom stock onto family smallholdings, collectively known as Ethiopia Heirloom Varietals. In essence, these are countless local heirloom Typica mixed varieties alongside improved selections derived from the old stock — a highly diverse genetic mix.

When the processing station receives the cherries, a 5-disc Agarde traditional depulper strips away the skin and pulp. The beans are then fermented in water tanks for 24-36 hours and graded by density through clean washing channels into two grades. Next comes a clean-water soak of 12-24 hours, and finally the beans are sun-dried on African raised beds for 10-15 days, shielded from the midday sun and overnight moisture.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you are new to Ethiopian coffee, begin with the most classic choice: FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe everyday bean, prized for its white jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and tea-like finish. Its friendly price has made it the first bean many people pick up when stepping into specialty coffee.

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia's southern Sidamo province, at roughly 1700-2100 meters, with the coffee trees planted above 1800 meters — among the highest coffee elevations in the world. The area was a wetland in ancient times, and the distinctive white floral character and lemon-citrus acidity of its coffee have made "Yirgacheffe" a byword for Ethiopian specialty coffee. The name became so famous that in 2010 the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange formally separated it from the Sidamo designation, giving the world the household name it is today.

What many people do not realize is that the Yirgacheffe town area breaks down into numerous small micro-regions, even individual villages, many home to seasoned, well-run cooperatives whose coffee reaches another level. The finest representative is FrontStreet's washed Idido Cooperative from Idido village. The Idido Cooperative sits in the Worka region at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe, originally part of the Worka Cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Union (YCFCU); as demand for traceable green coffee grew, it was singled out by coffee hunters worldwide as a "single micro-region." Processing follows the most traditional washed methods, and the coffee — often called the last pure land of Yirgacheffe washing — carries none of the traditional bitterness, offering instead clean, bright citrus and lemon acidity wrapped in jasmine fragrance.

For brewing, FrontStreet suggests: V60 dripper, 90-91°C water, 15g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio, ground to EK43s setting 10 (fine-sugar texture, 80% pass on a #20 sieve). Start the timer and pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom; pour the next 95g (scale reading about 125g) over roughly the first minute; once the water level drops to two-thirds of the bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale reading about 225g), finishing around 1:35. Drawdown completes at 2:00-2:10 — lift off the dripper and the brew is done.