Yirgacheffe Kochere Coffee Bean Flavor Profile Story Characteristics - Washed Yirgacheffe Coffee Pour-over Parameters Sharing

When it comes to coffee with floral and fruity aromas, the first thing that comes to FrontStreet Coffee's mind is Yirgacheffe. Although Gesha coffee also has floral and fruity notes, FrontStreet Coffee believes Yirgacheffe's are more distinct. Yirgacheffe is a specialty coffee-producing region in Ethiopia, originally part of the Sidamo region, but was separated due to its unique flavor profile!

About Yirgacheffe

Yirgacheffe was originally a small town in Ethiopia, located in the Sidamo administrative region. In ancient times, this town was a wetland - the ancient word "Yirga" means "to settle down," while "Cheffe" means "wetland."

Yirgacheffe is one of the highest altitude coffee-producing regions in the world and synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee. With an elevation ranging from 1,700 to 2,100 meters, it enjoys cool, misty weather year-round, spring-like seasons, and unique terrain and cultivation systems that provide optimal conditions for growing specialty coffee beans. Strictly speaking, Yirgacheffe is a sub-region of Sidamo. This small town is located in the northwestern part of Sidamo, surrounded by mountains and lakes, making it one of Ethiopia's highest-altitude coffee-producing regions. However, due to its unique flavor profile, it became independent from Sidamo, establishing its own identity and becoming one of Africa's most renowned coffee regions.

Coffee trees in the Yirgacheffe region are mostly grown in farmers' backyards or intercropped with other crops in fields. Each household's yield is relatively small, making it typical garden coffee.

What we often refer to as the "Yirgacheffe flavor" is characterized by intense jasmine fragrance, lemon or lime citrus notes, as well as sweet aromas of peach and almond, and tea-like qualities. Yirgacheffe coffee offers rich layers and delicate body, with captivating flavors and a sweet aftertaste. The phrase "coffee enters the mouth, a hundred flowers bloom" perfectly describes this experience, akin to flowers stimulating the taste buds and olfactory cells. Beyond the floral notes, the delicate body feels like silk massaging the palate, creating a remarkable tactile sensation.

Yirgacheffe Gedeo Zone Region

Gedeb is a town located below Kochere town, 60 kilometers from Yirgacheffe town, and is a famous specialty coffee-producing region in Ethiopia. With an altitude ranging from 1,900 to 2,200 meters, it's significantly higher than most Yirgacheffe regions. This high-altitude advantage makes Gedeb a uniquely blessed region for coffee cultivation, emerging as a micro-region that's gradually gaining prominence. Although in the ECX auction market this town is classified under the Kochere region, it holds the same administrative level as Kochere town.

In the specialty coffee world, it can be distinguished separately from Kochere as a Yirgacheffe sub-region at the same level as Kochere. This town includes villages such as Worka Sakaro, Halo Bariti, Banko Gotiti, and Banko Dahato, all of which produce coffee.

When discussing Yirgacheffe, it's essential to first introduce how its regions are classified. Under the ECX's regional classification system, Yirgacheffe is mainly divided into four regions: Wenago, Yirgacheffe, Kochere, and Gelana Abaya. In terms of administrative regions, the Kochere region covers two Woredas: Kochere in the west and Gedeb in the east. In recent years, Gedeb has often been independently classified as a micro-region, and the Banko Gotiti cooperative happens to be located in the Worka Kebele area within Gedeb at the southern end of Yirgacheffe.

The Banko Gotiti Cooperative was originally part of the Worka Cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU). It became independent as the Banko Gotiti Cooperative in 2012 and currently has over 300 small farmer members. In the past, direct exports from Ethiopia could be achieved through:

(1) Private processing station systems through ECX bidding and export

(2) Cooperative systems

(3) Single estates/farms. However, starting from 2018, the ECX system underwent reforms, no longer concealing the origins of coffee batches, and private processing stations can now directly export to buyers. Besides increasing transparency and traceability, this also allows buyers and sellers to establish closer cooperative relationships. For cooperatives, this may have no impact or may increase competition with private processing stations, but overall, such changes undoubtedly represent another step forward for the specialty coffee industry.

Banko Gotiti Cooperative

The Banko Gotiti Cooperative, located in the Worka region at the southeastern end of Yirgacheffe, was originally part of the Worka Cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU). However, as people's pursuit of traceability for green coffee beans grew, independent "single-origin regions" were discovered one by one by coffee hunters worldwide. Therefore, in 2012, Banko Gotiti, with about 300 farmer members, independently established the "Banko Gotiti Cooperative."

Banko Gotiti village was one of the earliest village areas to become independent. Many small farmers were also members of the original Worka Cooperative, so their coffee production techniques are well-established. The Banko Gotiti Cooperative is known as the last pure land of Yirgacheffe, thus adopting traditional processing methods for green beans (washed and natural processing methods).

Washed Processing

Ethiopia's washed processing technology was introduced from Central and South America in 1972. The washed processing process is complex and tedious, requiring large amounts of fresh water, making it more expensive than natural processing and less commonly used in water-scarce African regions.

Washed processing steps: After harvesting, coffee cherries are placed in water, using buoyancy to sort out underripe fruits. Then, a pulping machine removes the skin/pulp of the berries, after which they are left in fermentation tanks for 18-36 hours until the mucilage layer decomposes. After fermentation, the parchment beans are washed in channels for 30-60 minutes. Through specially designed channels combined with water flow, low-density, poor-quality beans are removed. The high-quality coffee beans are then drained of water and spread out on African raised beds to dry.

Because the pulp is removed before drying, Yirgacheffe's inherent aroma becomes clearer and more transparent, presenting citrus and lemon notes with elegant white floral aromas. The overall flavor is bright and delicate. After introducing washed processed coffee beans, Yirgacheffe leaped to become a representative of the world's specialty coffee regions.

Heirloom Varieties

Most Ethiopian varieties are named with this term because Ethiopia has so many varieties that it's like a natural gene bank for Arabica. On one hand, the numerous varieties make identification and classification difficult; on the other hand, the Ethiopian government,出于保护考虑, is unwilling or unable to disclose information about these varieties.

In Ethiopia, most coffee grows in wild or semi-wild states, in fields, backyards, or under forests. When coffee cherries mature, farmers gather these cherries for processing. In reality, this is a large mix of many different natural varieties. Because these fruits grow under the same terroir, they form somewhat similar flavors, which is the foundational framework of coffee regional flavors. Ethiopia has nearly 2,000 recorded coffee varieties, including 1,927 native varieties and 128 introduced foreign varieties. So in terms of variety alone, Ethiopia's coffee varieties are like a "grand garden" - it has everything: long, short, thin, fat. This is also why we often see that Ethiopian coffee beans are frequently uneven in size.

Roast Profile Analysis

For beans like Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters often use light roasting to present their floral and fruity notes. For this natural processed Banko Gotiti, we still use a gentle heat approach to extend the dehydration time of the beans.

Yangjia 800N Roaster (300g batch size)

Preheat to 175°C and load the beans, damper setting at 3, heat at 120. Return temperature at 1'32", with bean temperature at 140°C, heat unchanged, damper opened to 4. At this point, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. At 166°C, heat reduced to 100, and at 176°C, heat reduced to 80, damper remains unchanged.

At 8'28", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this moment, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'38", first crack begins, damper adjusted to 5 (adjust heat very carefully, not so low that there's no cracking sound). After first crack, develop for 1'30'', drop at 193.5°C.

Agtron bean color value 74.6 (upper image), Agtron ground color value 79.8 (lower image), Roast Delta value 5.2.

Cupping Notes

Flavor: Tropical fruits, cream, honey, berries, citrus.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Guide

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Banko Gotiti

FrontStreet Coffee: Yirgacheffe Banko Gotiti Cooperative Coffee Beans

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Yirgacheffe Gedeo Zone

Altitude: 1900-2300m

Variety: Heirloom

Processing: Washed

Grade: G1

Filter: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 91°C

Coffee Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Medium-fine (Chinese standard #20 sieve 80% pass rate)

Brewing Method: Poured over in stages

Use 34g of water for bloom for 36 seconds. With a small water flow, pour in circles to 120g, then segment. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 229g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from bloom) Total extraction time is 2'00".

Flavor: Overall mouthfeel is substantial, with fermentation aromas and tropical fruits being prominent. As the temperature changes, berry and cream flavors emerge. The aftertaste leaves a persistent citrus sweet and sour sensation on the teeth and lips.

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