Ethiopian Coffee Bean Knowledge: What Coffee Can Be Called Yirgacheffe?

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The Origin and Definition of Yirgacheffe Coffee

Yirgacheffe coffee beans were originally defined as coffee beans produced in a town called Yirgacheffe within Ethiopia.

Most coffee enthusiasts are probably no strangers to Ethiopia. It is the birthplace of Arabica and one of the world's most important native/wild coffee gene banks. The majority of production within the country is presented through small farmer cooperatives, with the harvest season occurring annually from October to December.

Yirgacheffe is Ethiopia's most famous producing region, located as a small producing area in the Gedeo region of southern Ethiopia. The harvested coffee beans all come from local small coffee farmers,可以说是集合了众多咖啡小农的心血. Initially, Yirgacheffe coffee beans were unremarkable because the small beans didn't conform to the popular concept that bigger is better. However, coffee lovers who have tasted Yirgacheffe were astonished that coffee could have such obvious floral aromas and lemon-citrus notes, leaving a deep impression. Because of this, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe became increasingly famous, becoming known worldwide along with the third wave of specialty coffee.

The Trademark Dispute and Evolution

Yirgacheffe is not only the most popular single-origin specialty coffee, but even Starbucks coveted this name. In 2004, Starbucks attempted to register "Yirgacheffe" as its own brand trademark, which angered Ethiopian authorities and global coffee lovers. It wasn't until 2007, when the Ethiopian government filed an international lawsuit, that the name Yirgacheffe coffee was liberated.

The Expanding Definition of Yirgacheffe

However, what everyone now refers to as Yirgacheffe doesn't actually completely refer to the place of Yirgacheffe anymore.

If you look at a map, you'll find that the real Yirgacheffe is actually just a small town.

Because Yirgacheffe's flavor is truly special and deeply loved,

Therefore, Ethiopia's definition of "Yirgacheffe" is not just a concept of origin. Under the ECX trading system classification in Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe isn't only coffee produced in Yirgacheffe town that's called Yirgacheffe. Under the officially recognized Ethiopian definition, it includes the legal areas of Wanago, Yirgacheffe town, Kochere, and Gelena Abaya;

This means that coffee not produced in Yirgacheffe town itself could also be called Yirgacheffe!

(What? That's confusing!)

But actually, everyone should just think of Yirgacheffe as a flavor profile, just like oolong tea!

Most of the Yirgacheffe we've had in the past comes from the Kochere producing region (some people translate it as Kochere, though locals say the pronunciation is closer to Kochare). Now, it's almost impossible to buy coffee beans from Yirgacheffe town itself in Taiwan.

Gedeb: The Rising Star Sub-region

If someone asks, if you can't get coffee from Yirgacheffe town, then where should you drink Yirgacheffe from?

Small Coffee must secretly recommend that among the legal Yirgacheffe producing regions, there's a gradually emerging small sub-region called Gedeb (some people also translate it as Jietip).

Gedeb is a township, at the same level as Yirgacheffe town, both belonging to the administrative divisions under Ethiopia's Gedeo Zone (if classified by ECX producing regions, it belongs to Kochere).

This producing region is not far from Worka, which has a unique blueberry note, and can be considered the most essence belt in the broader Yirgacheffe producing region.

The average altitude is super high, making it the highest producing region for Yirgacheffe flavor profiles!

The altitude easily reaches 1900-2200 meters (easily causing altitude sickness), much higher than the general legal Yirgacheffe producing regions. The advantage of high altitude makes Gedeb a uniquely blessed region for coffee cultivation! More and more coffee hunters are going to develop it, making it a gradually shining micro-region!

Yirgacheffe Coffee Brand Recommendations

Under Yirgacheffe, there are large and small villages, micro-regions, cooperatives, and processing stations. In most parts of Ethiopia, coffee farmers still live very difficult lives. They don't have sufficient ability to build family-style processing workshops, so many processing stations appear, centrally purchasing coffee cherries from surrounding small farmers, processing them, and then selling them to green bean merchants. Therefore, Yirgacheffe quality inevitably varies. If you want to find a quality Yirgacheffe, without sharp eyes, it's still recommended to choose brands with high credibility.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe coffee has full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, the cost-performance ratio is extremely high, with each 227-gram package priced at only 85-95 yuan. Calculated at 15 grams of coffee beans per cup, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 6 yuan.

Related recommendations: Introduction and flavor descriptions of several characteristic varieties from Ethiopia's YCFCU cooperative

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