The Proper Way to Enjoy Natural Process Yirgacheffe Coffee_ Pour-Over Parameters for Natural Yirgacheffe

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Introduction to Yirgacheffe Coffee Origin

Ethiopia is the first country to discover coffee and belongs to one of the most important production countries in terms of coffee quality and yield, producing approximately 350,000 tons annually. In addition to being famous worldwide for the Harar region's mocha beans, Ethiopia has Yirgacheffe, which is located in the small area of Sidamo in the south at an altitude of 1700-2100 meters. The Arabica coffee beans produced there are acclaimed as the finest of African coffee. Among coffee beans, Yirgacheffe coffee beans are one of the highest quality washed coffees globally and are the most expensive coffee in Ethiopia.

Yirgacheffe offers bright acidity with lemon and citrus fruit notes and sweetness in its acidity, along with subtle floral aromas and balanced acidity that perfectly interpret the flavor. Drinking it creates an illusion similar to tea tasting, with clear layers of soft and firm characteristics. The taste transitions from sour to sweet to aftertaste, making the sour aroma very gentle. Due to its clean aroma, unique lemon fragrance, honey sweetness, floral notes, pleasant fruity acidity, and rich multi-layered mouthfeel, it has become one of the most uniquely flavored coffees today. It is praised as Ethiopia's best coffee beans, loved by many people, and referred to by the Japanese as the "queen of coffee."

What is Tree-Dried Fruit?

Tree-dried fruit means exactly what it sounds like - fruit dried on the tree. Some coffee farmers deliberately allow coffee cherries to dry naturally on the tree - "dried on the tree" or "Tree Dry-Process" - coming from beans harvested at a late stage, after the cherry has already dried on the tree. Simply put, during sunny seasons, coffee fruits are dried on the tree until they become purple-black dried fruits. After harvesting, they still need to undergo rack sun-drying. These hand-harvested purple-black dried fruits have uneven moisture and sweetness inside. Through rack sun-drying, their moisture becomes more uniform, and sweetness develops more completely.

"Dried on the tree" is commonly found in Yemen and Brazil. Recently, it has also been discovered that beans from Bali, Indonesia use this technique. They use a method of breaking branches without picking, which increases coffee sweetness but reduces brightness. At the same time, this allows coffee cherries to remain on the tree longer without fermenting, but the prerequisite is ensuring moderate weather temperatures and that the coffee fruits (trees) are in shaded conditions. In low-altitude, high-temperature areas, this is best avoided because coffee cherries will start fermenting directly on the tree, affecting coffee flavor quality.

How is Tree-Dried Fruit Processed and What Are Its Characteristics?

The Tree-Dry process differs from traditional sun-drying processing methods. This processing method requires sufficient sunlight to allow fruits to dry evenly on the tree, and it must rely on manual harvesting of each individual fruit to ensure every harvested fruit is dried to a sufficient degree. Only fruits from the top to the middle of the tree can be harvested, as fruits below the middle of the tree don't get enough sunlight and their drying degree is insufficient, making them unusable. In other words, many fruits from trees processed using the Tree-Dry method cannot be used and must be discarded or sold at low prices.

When coffee cherries dry naturally on the tree, they not only fully absorb the tree's nutritional components but also absorb a large amount of sunlight, so the aroma, sweetness, and flavor become richer. However, the harvest period is reduced, and fewer fruits fall off during drying, making it a more expensive specialty coffee. Tree-dried fruits cultivated this way have unique mouthfeel, not only clean but also excellent in flavor, with superb acidity and sweetness.

Different processing methods are like different cooking methods, each producing distinct flavor characteristics:

Unlike traditional sun-drying processing methods, this processing method is more difficult to handle and control. It requires more care, as coffee cherries drying on the tree maintain flavor integrity and prominent sweetness.

Yirgacheffe Coffee Tree-Dried Fruit Flavor

Yirgacheffe Tree-Dried Natural G-1

Region: GEDEO

Altitude: 1900-2200 meters

Variety: Arabica

Location: Eastern part of traditional Yirgacheffe growing region

Bean Variety: HEIRLOOM

Processing Method: Natural Tree-Dried

Processing Process: Unlike traditional natural processing methods, this processing method is difficult to handle and control. It requires more care, as coffee cherries drying on the tree maintain flavor integrity and prominent sweetness.

Flavor: Rose and jasmine floral aromas, citrus and lemon fruit notes, charming red wine aroma, with richer sweetness and fruity body.

Cupping Score: 89+

How to Brew Yirgacheffe Coffee Well?

FrontStreet Coffee Hand-pour Reference: Weigh 15g of coffee powder, pour into a grinder for medium grinding. The ground particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use BG grinder setting 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate), water temperature 90°C, extracted with a V60 dripper.

The hot water in the pouring kettle should move clockwise in circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Start timing when brewing begins. Brew the coffee to 30g in 15 seconds, then stop pouring water. When the time reaches 1 minute, perform the second pour. During the second pour, like before, move clockwise in circles centered on the middle of the dripper. The water flow should not hit where the coffee powder meets the filter paper to avoid channeling effects.

When brewing the coffee powder to the outermost circle, leave one circle, then brew back toward the center circle by circle. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds, brew the coffee to 220g to complete the brewing process.

Japanese Iced Hand-pour

FrontStreet Coffee Iced Hand-pour Reference:

Yirgacheffe coffee, light-medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard sieve pass rate)

20g powder, 150g ice cubes, 150g hot water. Water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal hand-pour recommendation of 91°C. Normal grinding uses Fuji 3.5 setting, while iced hand-pour uses slightly finer - Fuji 3 setting.

Bloom water amount 40g, bloom time 30 seconds.

Pour in segments, first segment 60g water, second segment 40g water. Used a relatively fine but high water column for pouring, stirring forcefully to make the coffee powder roll completely, but be careful not to let the liquid level get too high or hit the filter paper at the edges.

The entire extraction time is approximately 2.5 minutes (similar to the normal extraction time for 20g powder).

Important Notice :

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