Flavor Characteristics of the Queen of Coffee Beans - The Relationship Between Yirgacheffe and Queen of Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee's Guji Coffee Flavor Profile: Passion fruit, rose floral aroma, strawberry jam, berry sweetness and acidity, juicy peach sensation, and a tea-like finish.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Flavor Profile: Lemon, sweet orange, tangerine, grapefruit, white floral notes, nuts, and a green tea finish.

When it comes to refreshing, uplifting single-origin coffees, Ethiopian beans immediately come to mind. The bright, lemon-like acidity of washed Yirgacheffe beans and the juicy, full-bodied natural process Guji beans are simply unparalleled favorites among light-to-medium roast enthusiasts! Both originating from Ethiopia, why do these two coffee beans exhibit such different sweet and acidic characteristics? Let's explore with FrontStreet Coffee the two famous Ethiopian producing regions—Yirgacheffe and Sidamo.

Sidamo Coffee Region

The Sidamo region is located in southern Ethiopia, extending eastward to the Arsi and Bale administrative zones and westward into the Gamogofa administrative zone. Sidamo's coffee trees are typically cultivated at altitudes between 1,400-2,000 meters. Agriculture dominates the local economy, with coffee growing primarily concentrated around the Great Rift Valley.

With the rapid development of the Sidamo region in recent years, it has gradually become an important coffee export hub in Ethiopia. Sidamo's coffee flavors are incredibly diverse, with different soil types, microclimates, and countless native varieties creating varying flavor differences and characteristics in the coffee produced by each town. Due to the rich floral and fruity aromas of Sidamo's coffee beans, most coffee cherries from this region are processed using the natural method, aiming to enhance the rich floral and fruity sweetness and full-bodied juice sensation.

Why Does Natural Processing Create Rich Fruity Flavors in Coffee?

Natural processing, also known as the Dry Process or Sun-Dried method, simply involves drying whole coffee cherries directly under full sun exposure. Compared to other processing methods, natural processing is much simpler in operation. With good weather—plenty of sunshine—the cherries can be spread out to receive the sun's blessing, whether on African drying beds or clean cement courtyards.

Because natural processing involves drying whole coffee fruits, the moisture content is much higher than that of fully depulped and demucilaged washed beans, requiring a longer drying time—typically twice as long as washed processing. For instance, in the sun-drenched Ethiopian regions, it takes at least 3 weeks to completely dry the cherries for storage. In Central and South America, some well-equipped estates build specialized wooden drying beds or shaded drying structures to slow down the fruit's drying process, creating varying degrees of fermentation. This slow natural drying usually requires 4-5 weeks.

After sun-drying reduces the coffee's moisture content to 11-13%, the fruit skin, pulp, and mucilage layers are removed. During the drying process, the coffee beans absorb sugars from the coffee pulp and mucilage. Over a month-long drying period, the beans have sufficient time to absorb these sugars, creating juice-like sweet and sour flavors. Meanwhile, during sun exposure, the pulp undergoes mild fermentation, and these fermented flavors absorbed by the coffee beans contribute to a full, smooth sensation in the brewed coffee. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the most distinctive flavor characteristics of natural processing are rich fruity aromas, mild fermentation, noticeable sweetness, and a smooth mouthfeel.

The Guji coffee beans come from the Hambella region of Sidamo, processed using the most common local natural method. Unlike other Sidamo coffee beans, only natural-processed coffee beans from the Buku processing station in Sidamo's Hambella region can be called "Guji Coffee." Since coffee is an agricultural product, flavors vary slightly each year with changes in climate and soil conditions. To distinguish from the award-winning Guji coffee of 2017, subsequent batches have been labeled with X.0. For instance, the 2021 batch was designated "Guji 5.0," while the latest 2024 batch is naturally called "Guji 8.0."

FrontStreet Coffee: Sidamo · Guji 8.0 Coffee Beans

• Country: Ethiopia
• Region: Sidamo · Guji Zone
• Altitude: 2,250-2,350 meters
• Variety: Local native varieties
• Processing Method: Natural processing
• Flavor: Floral notes, jackfruit, dried fruit, apricot, juicy sensation

The new harvest Guji 8.0 exhibits more intense fruity notes in dry aroma compared to the 7.0, with dense aromas of guava, jackfruit, apricot, dried fruit, citrus, and pink floral notes. When hot water is added, sweet aromas of honey, berries, and chocolate emerge.

Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee first experiences multiple fruit sweetness and acidity interweaving in this 8.0 batch—dried mango, jackfruit, sweet orange, and passion fruit—with clear juice sensation and a rounded mouthfeel. As the temperature slightly decreases, the sweet clarity of peach and the bright acidity of berries begin to emerge. After swallowing, one can perceive a tea-like aftertaste, with incredibly rich layers.

Yirgacheffe Coffee Region

The Yirgacheffe region is located in Ethiopia and was originally a sub-region under Sidamo, known for its bright and delicate coffee flavors that form a unique style distinct from the broader Sidamo region. Due to its high recognizability, farmers compete to produce coffee beans with Yirgacheffe characteristics, leading to its independence from Sidamo to become today's renowned Yirgacheffe region. According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, besides innate terroir conditions, Yirgacheffe coffee beans owe much of their distinctive style to washed processing.

Ethiopia's generally high altitude and abundant sunshine make it very suitable for directly drying coffee cherries under the sun. Initially, Yirgacheffe was also focused on producing natural-processed coffee. Traditional natural processing simply involved spreading cherries on the ground to dry—no sorting, no flotation—resulting in generally inconsistent coffee quality. It wasn't until the 1970s that Yirgacheffe town established Sidamo's first washing station, and local farmers gradually began adopting more washed processing techniques.

With the establishment of more farmer cooperatives, people began to desire building washed processing plants to improve green bean quality for export, thereby increasing income while serving multiple communities. Unlike natural processing, washing stations first need to address water resource issues, followed by investing in depulping machines, and then having sufficient workforce. Therefore, from a production perspective, places with people, water, and roads are ideal locations for establishing washing stations—and Yirgacheffe was precisely such a treasure.

The town of Yirgacheffe, located in the Gedeo Zone, sits downstream from large lakes with abundant springs and rivers flowing through, providing plentiful freshwater resources for washing stations. FrontStreet Coffee also noted that in Ethiopia's ancient language, the English "Yirgacheffe" consists of two words: Yirga (ይርጋ) meaning "to settle down" or "calm down," and Cheffe (ጨፌ) referring to marshy wetlands. Therefore, Yirgacheffe means "let us settle down in this wetland."

Why Does Washed Processing Make Coffee Flavors Bright and Uplifting?

The washed processing method involves first floating harvested coffee cherries to remove fruits with insufficient density. Next, machines remove the fruit skin and pulp, and the beans are placed in water tanks for either dry or wet fermentation to decompose the mucilage layer. After fermentation is complete, the coffee beans are rinsed with clean water to wash away the mucilage, and finally the mucilage-free beans are sun-dried to reduce moisture content to 11-13%.

Each step of washed processing removes impurities and defective beans, resulting in more uniform green bean quality and higher trading prices than naturally processed coffee. Washed processing not only significantly reduces coffee defect rates but also gives Yirgacheffe its fresh citrus notes and elegant white floral aromas, with overall bright, delicate, and clean flavors. FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe daily-drinker beans use washed processing, featuring classic Yirgacheffe flavor notes suitable for various brewing methods including pour-over, cold brew, and French press.

So are all coffee beans from the Yirgacheffe region only washed-processed? Not necessarily. Although washed-processed Yirgacheffe impressed people, some cooperatives have preserved the traditional natural processing method. For example, the natural Red Cherry coffee beans and Konga coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's shelf are both famous natural-processed batches from Yirgacheffe.

Brewing Coffee from Yirgacheffe & Sidamo Regions: Do You Need to Adjust Techniques and Parameters?

When roasting coffee beans from these two regions, FrontStreet Coffee uses light-to-medium roasting to preserve the rich acidity of both regions. However, the two beans exhibit different acidity and fruity characteristics—washed-processed Yirgacheffe shows bright lemon acidity, while natural-processed Sidamo displays soft berry acidity. Therefore, we can adjust water temperature and pouring techniques during brewing.

The brewing ratio should maintain a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio and medium-fine grind (78% retention rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve). Too coarse a grind cannot extract full-bodied substances, resulting in thin coffee. Too fine a grind can lead to over-extraction at high water temperatures, causing bitterness in the brewed coffee.

Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing to maximize the experience of coffee's rich flavors. All coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are roasted within 5 days because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that coffee bean freshness greatly impacts flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee possible. The coffee degassing period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it's at peak flavor.

For washed-processed Yirgacheffe coffee, FrontStreet Coffee selected beans produced by the Gotiti Cooperative. The Gotiti Cooperative was originally part of the Worka Cooperative. Due to the excellent quality of coffee produced by this cooperative, it was discovered by coffee hunters and became an independent coffee production cooperative, demonstrating the outstanding quality of Gotiti's washed Yirgacheffe coffee.

Washed Yirgacheffe (Gotiti) Brewing Adjustments:

To achieve bright, uplifting acidity with a tea-like aftertaste, brew at 90-91°C. To achieve full acidity and enhance body, brew at 92-93°C. During cupping of washed Yirgacheffe coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee noticed they exhibit different delicate flavors (white floral notes, green tea, etc.) at various temperatures, so a three-stage extraction method is used to allow different flavor compounds to express themselves better as the coffee bed gradually heats up.

When it comes to natural-processed Sidamo coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes Guji coffee beans are the most representative. Many fans know that Guji coffee actually refers to a natural-processed coffee bean from Ethiopia's Hambella region, with the full English name "Ethiopia Guji Hambella Buku Abel." Broadly speaking, it's a champion bean from Ethiopia's Guji region; more specifically, it's a natural-processed batch produced by the smaller Hambella Buku Abel processing station. The impressive nickname "Guji" means "Champion of a Hundred Flowers." With its renowned reputation, excellent quality, rich juicy fruit flavors, affordable price, and extremely high extraction compatibility (easy to brew), the combination of these advantages not only makes Guji stand out among Ethiopian coffees but also makes it the first choice for many friends trying single-origin coffee for the first time.

Natural-Processed Sidamo Brewing Adjustments:

To highlight the sweetness and full juice sensation of natural-processed Sidamo, FrontStreet Coffee uses 91-92°C for brewing to enhance overall body. During cupping of natural-processed Sidamo coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee noticed their overall full mouthfeel with clear juice sensation and sweetness, so a center-pouring extraction method is used to allow the coffee bed to stably and fully extract sweet and sour flavor compounds at the same temperature.

Three-Stage Pouring:

The ground Guji 8.0 coffee powder has honey and cream strawberry-like sweetness. Pour the coffee powder into a V60 dripper, wet the coffee bed with twice the amount of water as the coffee powder, and let it bloom for 30 seconds. Then use a small water stream to pour in concentric circles from inside to outside until reaching 125g, pausing until the coffee bed drops to half the dripper's height. Continue with the same fine water stream for the third pour to 225g, until all coffee liquid has filtered through, then remove the dripper. The total time should be approximately 2 minutes (with a 10-second variance).

Important Notice :

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