【FrontStreet Coffee Bean Quest】Special Report on T.O.H Yirgacheffe Champion Bean Aricha

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Yirgacheffe Aricha

Region: Yirgacheffe Adorsi Processing Station

Altitude: 1900-2000m

Processing Method: Natural

Grade: G1

Variety: Heirloom

Region Introduction

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia with an altitude of 1700-2100 meters. It is one of the highest altitude coffee-growing regions in the world and synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee. Lakes Turkana, Abaya, and Chamo bring abundant moisture to this area. The rift valley, represented by the Misty Valley, is filled with year-round mist, spring-like seasons, gentle breezes, cool and humid conditions. Thousands of coffee tree varieties thrive and multiply here, nurturing the unique terroir of Yirgacheffe where floral and fruity aromas intertwine in an unpredictable and enchanting manner.

Adorsi Processing Station

This year's Ethiopian harvest season cupping competition natural process category was won by the Adorsi Processing Station.

The Adorsi Processing Station is owned by Testi Coffee, a coffee export company operated by the Yonis family and founded in 2009 by Faysel A. Yonis.

In terms of competition results, this championship batch scored 91 points. Last year's Mudan (Peony) scored 88 points in the same competition, making Adorsi's score 3 points higher this year.

T.O.H

Taste of Harvest (TOH) is a green bean competition held among African producing countries by the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA), similar to the Cup of Excellence in Central and South America.

Currently, there are seven member countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and the Republic of Congo. The competition is divided into regional and continental competitions, with preliminary rounds eliminating batches scoring below 80 points. TOH selects the highest quality green beans from each region, which are cupped and scored by domestic and international judges based on Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) standards. This batch scored 88.58 points, the highest this year, to win the championship!

Variety Introduction

The variety of this coffee bean is local heirloom. Those who frequently drink Ethiopian coffee should have heard of the "Heirloom" variety. Most Ethiopian varieties are named this way because Ethiopia has too many coffee varieties—it's like a natural gene bank for Arabica. On one hand, there are numerous varieties making identification and classification difficult; on the other hand, the Ethiopian government, for protection purposes, is unwilling to disclose information about these varieties, so they are collectively called "Heirloom."

Ethiopia has nearly 2000 recorded coffee varieties, including 1927 native varieties and 128 introduced foreign varieties. So purely in terms of appearance, Ethiopian coffee varieties are like a "grand view garden" with everything imaginable: long, short, thin, fat...

Processing Method

This coffee bean uses natural processing.

1. Harvest mature coffee cherries

2. Initial sorting to remove impurities and defective beans

3. Floatation screening: Pour coffee cherries into water tanks, where mature, full cherries sink to the bottom, while immature or damaged cherries float to the surface.

4. Sun drying: Remove the mature coffee cherries from the bottom of the water tank and spread them on drying grounds for sun drying, reducing moisture content from 70% to about 10-12%. The cherries need to be turned several times daily for even drying, and covered at night to avoid moisture absorption.

5. Hulling: After about two to four weeks of sun exposure, the outer layers of the coffee seeds become dry and hard. At this point, a hulling machine is used to remove the outer layers, completing the process.

Roasting Analysis

Roaster: Yangjia 800N (300g batch size)

Charge temperature 165°C, heat power 120, damper setting 3; Return point at 1'36", when temperature reaches 148°C, open damper to 4, heat unchanged; at 166°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering dehydration phase, heat unchanged, damper at 5;

At 7'37", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 8'38", damper unchanged, development after first crack for 1'45", discharge at 195°C.

Agtron bean color value 66.2 (bottom image), Agtron ground color value 78.9 (top image), Roast Delta 12.7.

Cupping Flavor Notes

Grape juice, jackfruit, fermented wine aroma, citrus, lemon

1. Flavor descriptions vary by individual and are influenced by water temperature and brewing methods. This cupping report provides descriptions limited by the flavor wheel under the same brewing equipment and parameters, intended for reference only;

2. Content will be promptly updated with new information; the latest updates shall prevail.

Pour-over Brewing Recommendations

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over

Dripper: V60

Water temperature: 90-92°C

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: Medium-fine, similar to fine sugar (Grind BG-5R (60% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve))

Brewing technique:分段式萃取 (Segmented extraction). Use 30g of water for bloom for 30 seconds. With small water flow, pour in circular motion to 125g, then segment. When water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 227g and stop. When water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. Extraction time is 2 minutes (starting from bloom timing).

When brewing with V60 dripper, it smells of ripe fruit aroma. Upon entry, there's a distinct fermented aroma, green grapes. As the temperature slightly cools, there's lemon acidity, creamy smoothness, and in the finish, a juicy sensation of ripe grapes.

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