Are Horse Champion 6.0 and Yirgacheffe Coffee the Same Variety? Flavor Differences Between Yirgacheffe Coffee and Horse Champion Coffee Beans

As is well known, Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. When mentioning Ethiopian coffee, many coffee enthusiasts' first reaction should be FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe. In recent years, Ethiopia has also produced another famous bean called FrontStreet Coffee's "Horse Champion." But can everyone distinguish the relationship between FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe and FrontStreet Coffee's Horse Champion coffee?

Don't worry if you can't tell them apart. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will clarify the relationship between FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe and FrontStreet Coffee's Horse Champion in this article.

Ethiopia

As a renowned coffee birthplace, Ethiopia is located in northeastern Africa, at the center of the Horn of Africa, on the East African plateau southwest of the Red Sea. The country borders Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, and Eritrea to the north.

Ethiopia's terrain is mainly composed of mountainous plateaus, with the East African Rift Valley running through the entire territory. The average altitude is nearly 3,000 meters, earning it the nickname "Roof of Africa." Due to significant differences in latitude and altitude, although located in the tropics, temperatures vary considerably across different regions. The country experiences a heavy rainy season from June to September, a dry season from October to January, and a light rainy season from February to May. Due to uneven rainfall distribution across different seasons and regions, localized droughts are common. Temperature ranges from 9.7°C to 25.5°C, with an average annual temperature of 16°C.

Coffee cultivation in Ethiopia is mainly concentrated in the western and southern regions, with more than half of production following smallholder farming patterns, also known as garden coffee, which is Ethiopia's primary production method. According to reports, nearly 1.2 million local families depend on coffee cultivation for their livelihood, with each household's planting area not less than 4 hectares. Garden coffee refers to farmers managing coffee trees mixed with other economic crops in their backyards, typically planted alongside banana trees, creating unique green landscapes in front of and behind homes.

Due to the small production volume of smallholder-grown coffee, there are various farmer cooperatives or processing plants locally, mainly responsible for green coffee bean processing in their respective regions. During each harvest season, farmers pack the fruits from their coffee trees and send them to nearby water-based processing plants (cooperatives) for unified processing, followed by sales under the processing plant's name. For example, the FrontStreet Coffee's Buku Abel cooperative coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list are collected from coffee fruits grown within Yirgacheffe town, sent by farmers to the town for unified washed processing, and finally produced and sold worldwide under the cooperative's name.

Production Regions

Ethiopia has nine major coffee-producing regions: Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Harar, Limu, Jimma, Lekempti, Bebeka, Lekempti, and Illubabor.

Here, FrontStreet Coffee will only introduce the two regions involved in this article: Sidamo and Yirgacheffe.

Sidamo

Sidamo is located in southern Ethiopia, with the region extending eastward to the Arsi and Bale administrative areas, and westward to the Gamo Gofa administrative area. Coffee cultivation altitudes in the Sidamo region range between 1,400 to 2,000 meters. The coffee flavors in this region are diverse, with different soil types, microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties creating significant differences and characteristics in coffee produced by each town. Among these, Guji and West Arsi under Sidamo are most well-known to the world.

Coffee beans from the Sidamo region are mostly processed using the natural method. Through multiple cuppings, FrontStreet Coffee has discovered that the rich fruity aroma and smooth texture of Sidamo region coffee beans are attributed to the natural processing method.

On FrontStreet Coffee's bean list, the FrontStreet Coffee's Horse Champion bean comes from the Guji area of the Sidamo region. Coffee from the Guji region differs from that of the Yirgacheffe region, with more intense floral aromas. Hambela from Guji gained championship in the 2017 Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest Competition, after which Chinese green bean importers named this bean "Horse Champion." At that time, this bean had strong strawberry and cream aromas.

FrontStreet Coffee's Horse Champion is a natural processed bean from the Buku Abel processing plant. The area where FrontStreet Coffee's Horse Champion coffee is grown is surrounded by sugarcane and banana plants. Under high-altitude climate conditions, this gives FrontStreet Coffee's Horse Champion coffee a smooth texture with passion fruit acidity. The natural processing method brings fermented wine notes to this bean.

FrontStreet Coffee: FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo · Horse Champion 5.0 Coffee Beans

Region: Ethiopia Sidamo

Altitude: 2050m-2300m

Variety: Local native varieties

Processing method: Natural processing

Yirgacheffe

Yirgacheffe is a small town with altitudes between 1,700 to 2,100 meters. In its original name YirgaCheffe, Yirga means "settle down" and Cheffe means "wetland." Therefore, Yirgacheffe YirgaCheffe means "let us settle and make a living on this wetland." Yirgacheffe was once a sub-region of Sidamo, but because the coffee beans produced in Yirgacheffe and its production methods were too outstanding, Ethiopian coffee farmers competed to be proud of their coffee having Yirgacheffe flavor. Therefore, Yirgacheffe became independent and established itself as a region. The term Yirgacheffe is not only the name of a region but also a synonym for a coffee flavor profile.

Yirgacheffe coffee beans can be said to be known to all, serving as the entry point for many coffee enthusiasts. This is all thanks to the Yirgacheffe flavor. What is Yirgacheffe flavor? It is intense jasmine floral aroma, lemon or lime acidity, as well as peach, almond sweetness, and tea aroma. Just as mentioned by Huanai Zong in "Specialty Coffee Studies" - "when coffee enters the mouth, a hundred flowers bloom."

Compared to the typical impression of Sidamo coffee, Yirgacheffe mostly uses washed processing methods. FrontStreet Coffee believes that washed processing coffee has more prominent acidity and better cleanliness, best highlighting Yirgacheffe characteristics. On FrontStreet Coffee's bean list, FrontStreet Coffee's washed processed Yirgacheffe includes FrontStreet Coffee's Worka, FrontStreet Coffee's Kochere, and FrontStreet Coffee's Buku Abel. Among these, the Buku Abel cooperative that produces FrontStreet Coffee's Buku Abel beans became independent from the Worka cooperative in 2012. Many members of the Buku Abel cooperative were originally members of the Worka cooperative, so the coffee production techniques of the Buku Abel cooperative are unquestionable.

FrontStreet Coffee: FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe · Buku Abel Coffee Beans

Region: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

Cooperative: Buku Abel Cooperative

Altitude: 2000m-2100m

Variety: Local native varieties

Processing method: Washed processing

Brewing Suggestions

To fully extract the fruity acidity of these two beans, FrontStreet Coffee uses higher water temperature and finer grind size for extraction. However, to avoid over-extraction caused by high temperatures, fast-flowing drippers such as V60 are used.

FrontStreet Coffee suggests using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing to maximize the rich flavors of the coffee. Coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are roasted within 5 days, because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that coffee bean freshness greatly affects flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer who orders receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at its peak flavor.

Dripper: V60 #01

Water temperature: 90-91°C

Coffee dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: EK43s #10 (80% pass-through rate with #20 standard sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee's brewing method: First pour 30g of water for 30-second bloom, then pour 95g more (scale shows around 125g), completed in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows around 225g), completed in about 1 minute 35 seconds. Complete drip filtration in 2 minutes to 2'10", remove the dripper, and complete extraction.

Flavor Profiles

[FrontStreet Coffee's Buku Abel] Entry notes of citrus, black tea, with cream, caramel, and almond notes as temperature changes, with obvious sweet aftertaste and clean, sweet mouthfeel.

[FrontStreet Coffee's Horse Champion 5.0] Floral aroma, berry, citrus, plum sweet and sour notes, mango juice, honey, with sweet black tea aftertaste.

Finally, FrontStreet Coffee needs to clarify once again the relationship between FrontStreet Coffee's Horse Champion and FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe, for those who might not have understood. FrontStreet Coffee's Horse Champion is coffee beans produced in the Sidamo region, while FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe refers to coffee beans from the Yirgacheffe region.

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473