Washed Yirgacheffe Coffee Bean Story and Flavor Characteristics - Pour-Over Guide for Washed Yirgacheffe Banko

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Coffee originates from Ethiopia, where it serves as a common household beverage that fosters friendly relationships. Today, coffee has spread globally, and FrontStreet Coffee has been quietly cultivating its presence in the specialty coffee industry for seven years. FrontStreet Coffee has also discovered that Ethiopian coffee bean flavors are highly favored by coffee enthusiasts, with those featuring citrus and lemon notes receiving the highest engagement.

The Art of Preserving Coffee's Terroir

The flavor profile of each coffee is determined the moment the coffee cherries are picked from the tree; every subsequent step is a process of reducing its coffee flavor. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee exercises extreme care during both the roasting and brewing stages, striving to perfectly present the fundamental flavor characteristics of the growing region. Only when such results are achieved can FrontStreet Coffee's efforts be considered worthwhile.

Every Coffee Tells a Story

In fact, every coffee that customers taste at FrontStreet Coffee has its own unique story, and how to tell this story is what truly matters. Take the Yirgacheffe coffee mentioned in this article: from its journey from a foreign land to Chinese soil, appearing on FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu, every step influences its final flavor profile.

The Origin of Yirgacheffe

Yirgacheffe was originally a small town in Ethiopia, representing the highest altitude coffee growing region in the country. Initially, it wasn't separated as its own distinct region—Yirgacheffe was a small growing area within Ethiopia's Sidamo province. When people first tasted Yirgacheffe coffee, everyone found its flavor profile exceptionally special, so gradually, Yirgacheffe was declared independent from Sidamo by the ECX (Ethiopia Commodity Exchange), becoming a new coffee region in Ethiopia and establishing itself as a new coffee brand.

Economic Realities of Coffee Production

If a cup of coffee costs $3, only $1 belongs to the grower. This situation illustrates how many coffee-producing regions are constrained by economic conditions, limiting the modernization of their coffee processing methods. Ethiopia's economic conditions don't allow for the establishment of large estates or major processing facilities, so Ethiopia's production model typically involves local small farmers sending their regional batches to cooperatives for unified processing. They generally use natural processing methods for their coffee, though they also have their own washing stations. Previously, many FrontStreet Coffee customers regularly drank Ethiopian washed beans, and by comparing the natural red cherry and washed Guddi Ethiopian coffee beans available at FrontStreet Coffee, they discovered they still preferred the washed Yirgacheffe coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Approach

When FrontStreet Coffee brews washed Yirgacheffe Guddi for customers, they prefer to use higher water temperatures, such as 91°C, because FrontStreet Coffee's Guddi is lightly roasted, requiring higher temperatures to extract its full flavor. FrontStreet Coffee enjoys brewing this coffee using 15 grams of coffee grounds with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio. When you taste this coffee, you'll discover the bright citrus fruit acidity of Guddi, with clearly defined flavor layers.

The Truth About Inconsistent Bean Sizes

When FrontStreet Coffee's baristas brew this coffee, many observant customers notice that these washed Yirgacheffe coffee beans vary significantly in size and are quite uneven. Some customers then question whether the beans are truly from Ethiopia or if they contain other defective beans. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee would like to explain that our beans are definitely authentic Ethiopian beans, and the reason for the size variation is related to Ethiopia's inherent coffee management system.

Ethiopia's Coffee Biodiversity

As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia boasts an enormous variety of coffee species, with many wild coffee varieties yet to be officially documented. Therefore, so many coffee varieties are collectively referred to as local landraces or heirloom varieties. For example, large estates typically plant Bourbon variety throughout, so the resulting beans are relatively uniform in size. Let FrontStreet Coffee give you another example: imagine an estate where Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, Catuai, and Castillo coffee varieties are all mixed together in one field. When coffee farmers collect the coffee, they don't distinguish which variety comes from which tree—they simply gather all ripe coffee cherries into the same basket. Consequently, the coffee beans acquired by merchants will naturally vary in size.

The Natural Beauty of Ethiopian Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian beans are harvested using exactly this collection method, which is why FrontStreet Coffee customers notice the size variation in Ethiopian beans. For beans from Ethiopia, this is actually a completely normal phenomenon. To put it simply, Yirgacheffe coffee varieties are local landraces—small, relatively round in appearance, with very small beans that vary significantly in size.

Ethiopia's Coffee Grading System

Therefore, Ethiopia has developed its own coffee grading system. According to traditional standards, washed coffee beans are generally graded as G1, G2, with smaller numbers indicating higher grades, while natural processing uses G3, G4, G5 for grading. However, I've heard that Ethiopia has recently introduced new grading standards.

If you frequently visit FrontStreet Coffee's store, you'll find many samples of both green and roasted beans. Generally, washed green beans are bluish-green, while natural processed green beans are yellowish-green. The difference between them is significant—you'll notice that washed processed coffee beans have more silver skin, while natural processed beans have relatively less silver skin compared to washed processing. Of course, roast level also greatly affects silver skin—the darker the roast, the more completely the silver skin is removed. Ethiopia's traditional method for processing Yirgacheffe coffee is natural processing, but to ensure consistent production of high-quality coffee beans, washed processing is also used. FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Guddi uses washed processing, offering citrus and black tea notes upon tasting.

The Importance of Silver Skin

FrontStreet Coffee wants to tell everyone not to underestimate silver skin—its presence significantly impacts coffee brewing. Because if there's too much silver skin, the brewed coffee will have an astringent flavor. However, if the silver skin is over-processed from the green beans, it can lead to flavor reduction.

The Journey of Coffee Mastery

Therefore, through these methods, everyone can discover that brewing a delicious cup of coffee is simple, but truly brewing a cup that expresses its regional flavor characteristics requires continuous practice and experimentation to adjust parameters. The story of Yirgacheffe coffee beans is much longer, and if everyone wants to truly learn more about Yirgacheffe coffee beans, you are warmly welcome to visit FrontStreet Coffee's store to exchange coffee culture and insights.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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