Introduction to Ethiopian Natural Red Cherry Coffee - Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Flavor Profile

Introduction to FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Natural Red Cherry

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Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia with an altitude of 1700-2100 meters, making it one of the highest altitude coffee producing regions in the world and synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee. Lake Turkana, Lake Abaya, and Lake Chamo bring abundant water vapor to this area. In the Rift Valley, represented by Misty Valley, fog pervades year-round, creating a spring-like climate with gentle breezes, cool and humid conditions. Thousands of coffee tree varieties thrive and multiply here, cultivating the unique terroir of FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe, where distinctive floral and fruit aromas intertwine in an ambiguous and ever-changing dance.

Initially, the coffee trees in Yirgacheffe were cultivated by European monks (somewhat similar to Belgian monks growing grain to brew beer), later taken over by farmers or cooperatives. Coffee trees naturally scatter throughout forests, fields, and backyards. During harvest season, Ethiopian coffee trading companies come to town to purchase coffee beans collected by farmers, ultimately auctioning them for export under the "Yirgacheffe" brand.

The "Red Cherry Project" (ORC) is an initiative aimed at improving the quality of small-scale farms. In 2007, Trabocca, the largest green coffee importer in the Netherlands, launched the "Red Cherry Project" in pursuit of high-quality Ethiopian beans. The project requires that when harvesting coffee cherries, not only must fully red fruits be picked, but they must also be harvested entirely by hand. However, this is just the most basic requirement, as the project is far more complex.

The main purpose is to encourage bean farmers and bring surprises to roasters. Trabocca, the largest coffee bean importer in the Netherlands, invites all Ethiopian farms to produce small batches of approximately 1500-3000 kilograms (25-50 bags) of beans before harvest season. Women are tasked with selecting only fully 100% mature red cherries, which makes a significant difference in the flavor of the brewed coffee. Therefore, meticulous, sharp-eyed, and hardworking Ethiopian women are crucial drivers of the Red Cherry Project.

The Red Cherry Project also serves as a reinforcement approach, encouraging farms to invest more attention in the screening and selection process. These coffees command relatively higher prices. The Red Cherry Initiative includes washed, natural, semi-washed, semi-natural, and experimental coffees. Major producing regions include Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Bench Maji (Bonga Forest), Lekempti, Kambata, Illubabor, Harar, Limu, and in 2011, the Golocha production area (near Harar) was added. All these regions offer unique flavors that fully showcase the diversity of Ethiopian coffee. After receiving the coffee, Trabocca conducts further selection. Farms that meet quality standards through cupping tests in both Ethiopian and Dutch offices receive substantial bonuses.

Trabocca, the promoter of the Red Cherry Project, has invested all profits from recent years back into cooperative farms. Trabocca emphasizes that this is a non-profit project, so the company executes the Red Cherry Project with only four people, including the owner and secretary. Other administrative matters are supported by the parent company to reduce administrative expenses, with all profits returned to cooperative farms.

FrontStreet Coffee's natural Red Cherry coffee beans have relatively uniform maturity and clean flavor profiles, so we have adopted a light-medium roast to preserve more floral aromas, fruit acidity, and fermented notes of ripe fruits.

FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Natural Red Cherry: Strawberry, berries, cream, spices, almonds, oolong tea.

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