How to Roast Yirgacheffe Coffee Beans - Yirgacheffe Roasting Guide

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Washed Gedeb Roasting Curve Sharing

As people pursue the traceability of green coffee, individual "single origins" have been discovered one by one by coffee hunters around the world. In 2012, Gedeb, with about 300 member farmers, took that spirit a step further and independently established the "Gedeb Cooperative."

Gedeb village was the first village area to separate and become independent, and many of its small farmers were also members of the original Worka Cooperative, so their coffee production skills are beyond question.

The Gedeb Cooperative is known as the last pure land of Yirgacheffe, and the green bean processing methods it uses are all very traditional ones - washed and natural processing.

Today we share the roasting curve of washed Yirgacheffe Gedeb. To showcase the unique character of these beans, the barista at FrontStreet Coffee roasted three different curves for comparison.

The Gedeb Cooperative is located in the Worka production area at the southeastern end of Yirgacheffe. It was originally part of the Worka Cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Union, YCFCU.

Roaster: Yangjia 800N (300g batch size)

Curves & Cupping Results

Curve One

Charge temp: 180°C, yellowing point: 5'00", 151.9°C, first crack: 8'30", 184.1°C, development after first crack: 2'08", dropped at 194°C.

Flavor: Smoky notes, citrus, floral notes as the temperature changes during slurping, caramel, honey, with a creamy aroma in the aftertaste.

Curve Two

Charge temp: 180°C, yellowing point: 5'00", 149.9°C, first crack: 8'42", 183.8°C, development after first crack: 1'48", dropped at 193.5°C.

Flavor: Citrus, cream, berry notes as the temperature changes during slurping, black tea, caramel sweetness, with citrus returning in the aftertaste.

Curve Three

Charge temp: 180°C, yellowing point: 5'10", 151.1°C, first crack: 8'46", 184.5°C, development after first crack: 1'28", dropped at 192.3°C.

Flavor: Woody, citrus, caramel as the temperature changes during slurping, cream, with astringent notes in the finish.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia's southern Sidamo region, sitting at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters with coffee planted above 1,800 meters - among the highest coffee elevations in the world. So recognizable are its white floral notes and lemon-citrus acidity that in 2010 the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange separated Yirgacheffe from Sidamo as its own appellation. If you are new to Ethiopian coffee, FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe everyday bean - jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like finish at a friendly price - is the classic first step.

The washed Gedeb featured in the roasting curves above comes from the same spirit of traceability: the Gedeb Cooperative, once part of the Worka Cooperative under the YCFCU union, still processes its coffee with the most traditional methods, producing a clean cup with no traditional bitterness - just fresh, bright citrus-lemon acidity and jasmine fragrance. For a fruitier take, FrontStreet's sun-dried Red Cherry lot uses fully ripe, whole-red-cherry natural processing, turned every 2-3 hours during the first days and dried for three to five weeks, yielding citrus acidity, berry juiciness, honeyed sweetness, and creamy smoothness.

To brew any of these Yirgacheffes, FrontStreet suggests a V60 with 15g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio, water at 90-91°C, and a fine-sugar grind (EK43s at setting 10, 80% pass-through on a #20 sieve). Pour 30g to bloom for 30 seconds, then 95g (scale reads about 125g) within about 1 minute; when the level drops to two-thirds of the bed, add the final 100g (scale reads about 225g) by 1'35". Drawdown finishes between 2'00" and 2'10" - remove the dripper and enjoy.