Washed Yirgacheffe Citrus-Floral Coffee Japanese Iced Pour-Over Brewing Guide_Citrus-Floral Coffee Flavor Characteristics

Citrus Blossom / Yirgacheffe: The Authentic African Gem

Many drinkers have never met the name "Citrus Blossom," yet almost everyone knows Yirgacheffe. Citrus Blossom is simply Yirgacheffe coffee from Ethiopia, singled out for a name of its own because of its signature citrus acidity and floral perfume.

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia sitting at roughly 1700 to 2000 meters, which makes the area one of the highest coffee-growing zones in the country. The land here has been wetland since ancient times. In the local language "yirga" means "to settle down" and "cheffe" means wetland, so the place name carries the meaning "let us settle and make a living in this wetland."

A pleasant, spring-like climate year-round and that high altitude did more than let the local people settle. They also gave the coffee a geographic advantage that sets it apart.

Most of the coffee trees here grow in farmers' own backyards or are interplanted with other crops on farmland. Each household produces only a small amount, which makes this classic garden coffee. The mountain villages sit wrapped in mist with spring-like weather all year: breezy, cool rather than hot in summer, rainy but not damp, and free of frost in winter. That combination builds the region's distinctive taste of citrus and flowers, the so-called "Yirgacheffe flavor." The term points to an intense jasmine fragrance, lemon, sweet peach and almond aromatics, and tea-like notes.

Yirgacheffe once used only the oldest natural processing. In 1972, Ethiopia introduced washed processing techniques from Central and South America in order to improve quality. The change made the jasmine fragrance and citrus aroma clearer and finer, and lifted Yirgacheffe to the top tier of specialty coffee worldwide. Exquisite washed processing was indispensable to that rise. From the 1970s onward, the area focused on washed lots and became Ethiopia's most popular washed-bean producing region.

Origin

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe G1

Altitude

1700-2000m

Process

Washed

Taste Profile

citrus, floral, green tea

How to Brew Yirgacheffe "Citrus Blossom" Well

FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over reference: weigh 15g of Citrus Blossom coffee and grind it medium, with particles slightly coarser than table salt. We use a BG grinder at setting 5R, a 60 percent standard sieve pass rate, at 90 degrees Celsius, extracted through a V60 dripper.

Pour the hot water in circles centered on the middle of the dripper, moving clockwise. Start timing when brewing begins, and pour to 30g within 15 seconds, then stop. At the 1 minute mark, begin the second pour, again in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Keep the stream off the point where the coffee bed meets the filter paper to avoid channeling.

Leave a ring of clearance at the outermost edge of the bed, then work back toward the middle circle by circle. By 2 minutes 20 seconds the brew should reach 220g, and the pour is complete.

Japanese-Style Iced Pour-Over "Citrus Blossom"

FrontStreet Coffee's iced pour-over reference for Citrus Blossom:

Yirgacheffe Citrus Blossom, light to medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M, a 67 percent standard sieve pass rate.

20g coffee, 150g ice cubes, 150g hot water. The water temperature should be 1 degree higher than the normal 91 degrees Celsius recommended for pour-over, so 92 degrees Celsius. Regular pour-over uses a Small Fuji setting of 3.5, while the iced version grinds half a step finer, at Small Fuji 3.

Bloom water 40g, bloom time 30 seconds.

Pour in segments, beginning with 60g and following with 40g. Use a relatively thin but tall stream with a forceful, stirring impact so the bed tumbles fully, while keeping the liquid level from rising too high and keeping the stream off the edge filter paper.

Total extraction time is also about 2.5 minutes, close to the normal extraction time for 20g of coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Anyone new to Ethiopian coffee should start with FrontStreet Washed Yirgacheffe, the house daily-drinker. It is known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like body, and its friendly price has made it the first specialty bean for a great many drinkers. Yirgacheffe itself sits in the Sidama zone of southern Ethiopia at about 1700 to 2100 meters, with the coffee trees planted above 1800 meters, ranking it among the highest growing regions on earth. The area has been wetland since ancient times, and the name Yirgacheffe has become shorthand for the recognizable white florals and lemon-citrus acidity of Ethiopian specialty coffee. In 2010 the name grew so strong that the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange separated it from Sidama, which is how Yirgacheffe became the household name it is today.

The town of Yirgacheffe actually breaks into many smaller zones and villages, several of them home to experienced cooperatives with mature production. The standout is FrontStreet Washed Guodingding Cooperative, which sits in the Worka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe. It began as part of the Worka cooperative under the YCFCU union, and as demand for traceable green coffee grew, coffee hunters around the world singled it out as a micro-region of its own. It follows the most traditional washed process, and drinkers often call this last unspoiled corner of Yirgacheffe. FrontStreet Guodingding carries none of the classic bitter profile: it brings clean, bright citrus and lemon acidity and jasmine perfume, the kind of cup that wins people over on the first sip.

For a fruitier expression, FrontStreet Natural Red Cherry takes the same Yirgacheffe origin and applies a fully ripe cherry natural process, picking only fully mature fruit with no defects. The cherries go through a first round of sorting at the mill, then dry directly on raised beds, turned every 2 to 3 hours during the first days so uneven heat does not push them into over-fermentation. After three to five weeks of drying, workers strip the outer pulp by machine according to the weather and temperature, and move the coffee into storage. Because the fruit dries in contact with the bean, the cup keeps the classic Yirgacheffe profile and gains tropical fruit from the natural process: citrus acidity, berry juice, honey sweetness, and a creamy smoothness.

For brewing, FrontStreet suggests a V60 at 90 to 91 degrees Celsius, 15g of coffee, and a 1:15 ratio, ground to EK43s setting 10, about the size of fine sugar, with 80 percent passing a No. 20 sieve. Pour a 30g bloom and let it rest 30 seconds, then add 95g of water, bringing the scale to roughly 125g, finishing around 1 minute. When the water level drops to two-thirds of the bed, add the remaining 100g, bringing the scale to about 225g, finishing around 1 minute 35 seconds. The brew should finish dripping between 2 minutes and 2 minutes 10 seconds; remove the dripper and the extraction is done.