What is the Yirgacheffe Roasting Method? Introduction to Medium Roast Yirgacheffe Coffee Characteristics

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FrontStreet Coffee: Yirgacheffe Washed Kochere Roasting Curve

Kochere

Kochere sits on a plateau at an altitude of 1,650-1,800 meters.

The main harvest season in Ethiopia is November and December. Most farmers do not use modern farming methods, tending the coffee trees by hand without harmful pesticides or herbicides. As a result, almost all Ethiopian coffee is organically grown by default, whether it is certified or not. This combination of original growing methods and precise processing has made coffee from this region world-renowned. The owner of Neko farm said: "This time we did not have time to prepare, but we will prepare for RFA organic certification at the next harvest."

Washed Processing Method

Washed processing requires more resources, above all water, than natural processing, and it produces higher-quality washed green coffee. The coffee beans are spread evenly on drying beds so that air circulates well. To avoid over-fermentation, the beans are turned regularly.

Roasting Machine: Yangjia 800N (roasting capacity: 550g)

Kochere Roasting Curve

Preheat the roaster to 200°C, set the damper to 3, and start the heat at 160. Keep the damper unchanged. At the turning point at 1:32, when the drum temperature reaches 151°C, adjust the damper to 3.5. When the drum temperature reaches 140°C, adjust the heat to 180 and leave the damper unchanged. At this point the bean surface turns yellow and the grassy smell disappears completely, marking the start of the dehydration stage.

At 8:35, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly changes to coffee aroma. This can be defined as the prelude to first crack, so listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8:53, first crack begins. Keep the heat at 180 and adjust the damper to 4. After first crack, develop for 1:45, then drop at 195°C.

Kochere Cupping Notes

Lemon acidity, green tea sensation, citrus, jasmine, orange, nuts, floral notes.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want to taste this classic washed Yirgacheffe profile without roasting it yourself, it is worth starting with FrontStreet Water-Washed Yirgacheffe. Built as an everyday "daily drinker," it is known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like body, and its accessible price has made it the first specialty coffee bean for a great many people. Yirgacheffe itself is a small town in southern Ethiopia, in Sidama, at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters, with the coffee trees planted above 1,800 meters, making it one of the highest coffee regions in the world. The area was once a wetland, and in the local language Yirgacheffe came to stand for the strikingly recognizable white florals and lemon-citrus acidity that now define a whole category of Ethiopian specialty coffee; in 2010, with the name so famous, the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange finally separated it from the Sidama region, giving us the Yirgacheffe coffee everyone knows today.

Yirgacheffe town is in fact made up of many smaller production areas and even individual villages, and several of them have seasoned cooperatives with mature processing methods whose Yirgacheffe reaches an even higher level. The best example is FrontStreet Washed Gotiti from Gotiti village; the cooperative lies in the Woreda production area at the southeastern end of Yirgacheffe, and it follows the most traditional washed processing. Known as the last pure land of Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Gotiti coffee has none of the usual bitter character and brings a clean, bright citrus and lemon acidity with jasmine fragrance that wins people over at the first sip. For a natural alternative from the same region, FrontStreet Red Cherry uses a full-red-cherry natural process, keeping the typical Yirgacheffe profile while adding the tropical fruit notes of sun-dried processing: citrus-like acidity, a juicy berry quality, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy smoothness.