Pour-Over Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe Candied Fruit Coffee Flavor Description_Is Iced Pour-Over Yirgacheffe Delicious

When the third wave of specialty coffee blossomed across China, one coffee in particular became a favorite among women, right alongside lipstick, high heels, bags, and desserts—Yirgacheffe.

Ethiopian coffee offers an incredibly diverse range of flavors, from citrus and floral notes to candied fruits and even tropical fruit aromas. The best washed Yirgacheffe can show elegant floral aromas and sweet citrus notes, while the best naturally processed Yirgacheffe presents bold fruit flavors and captivating spice-like aromas.

Candied Fruits: Ethiopia Kochere Natural Process

This new-season bean is quite feminine in character. The dry fragrance is particularly prominent—very aromatic, with an especially sweet aroma that fits the "Candied Fruits" profile perfectly. In the wet fragrance there is a very noticeable creamy aroma. The mouthfeel is excellent, with a stretch of strawberry acidity. Though the aftertaste is fairly average, the sweetness is gentle and comfortable—definitely a good bean.

How to Brew Yirgacheffe "Candied Fruits" Perfectly

FrontStreet Coffee hand-pour reference: weigh 15g of beans and grind them medium—the particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use a BG grinder setting of 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate), a water temperature of 90°C, and a V60 dripper.

Pour the hot water from the gooseneck kettle in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the filter. Start timing when brewing begins. Within 15 seconds, brew to 30g, then stop pouring. When the time reaches 1 minute, begin the second pour, again in clockwise circles centered on the filter middle, keeping the stream off the area where the grounds meet the filter paper to avoid channeling.

When you reach the outermost edge of the grounds, leave one ring, then pour circle by circle toward the center. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds the brew should reach 220g—brewing complete.

Japanese-Style Iced Hand-Pour: "Candied Fruits"

FrontStreet Coffee iced hand-pour reference for "Candied Fruits":

Yirgacheffe "Candied Fruits," light-medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard sieve pass rate).

20g of coffee grounds, 150g of ice cubes, 150g of hot water. The water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal 91°C recommended for hand-pour. Normal grinding uses Fuji setting 3.5, while iced hand-pour needs a slightly finer Fuji setting 3.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Segmented pouring: a first segment of 60g of water, a second segment of 40g. Use a relatively thin but tall water column, stirring forcefully so the grounds roll fully. Be careful not to let the liquid level rise too high, and avoid hitting the filter paper at the edges.

The total extraction time is about 2.5 minutes—similar to the normal extraction time for 20g of grounds.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Yirgacheffe is a small town in the Sidamo zone of southern Ethiopia, at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters, with the coffee trees planted above 1,800 meters—one of the highest coffee regions in the world. A wetland since ancient times, it became shorthand for Ethiopian specialty coffee on the strength of its highly recognizable white florals and lemon-citrus acidity, and in 2010, because the name had grown so famous, the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange separated it from the Sidamo region—which is how it became the household name it is today. For a first taste of the region, FrontStreet Washed Yirgacheffe is the classic starting point: known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like quality, and priced so accessibly that it has become the first specialty bean for countless drinkers.

If you prefer the fruit-forward, candied style, FrontStreet Red Cherry is the natural counterpart. It is processed as a whole-ripe natural: only fully ripe, sound cherries are picked, given a first sorting at the mill, then spread on raised beds to dry, turned every 2-3 hours in the first few days to keep them from overheating and over-fermenting. After three to five weeks of sun-drying, workers judge the weather and temperature and mechanically scrape off the outer pulp before the coffee is stored. Because the fruit dries with the pulp on, the cup keeps the typical Yirgacheffe character while gaining the tropical fruit of a natural—citrus-like acidity, a berry-juice quality, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy smoothness. Many drinkers also know the town through FrontStreet Washed Gudingding, from Gudingding village in the Worka area on Yirgacheffe's southeastern edge, which follows the most traditional washing and, often called Yirgacheffe's last pure land, shows clear, bright citrus and lemon acidity and jasmine fragrance without the usual bitterness.