What Variety Does Yirgacheffe Gedeb Belong To - Introduction to Konga Woka Cooperative in Yirgacheffe Region

Many people who are new to coffee have likely heard of "Yirgacheffe Coffee" to some extent. When you first heard of it, did you think it was a category of coffee beverage like latte or Americano?

Actually, Yirgacheffe is one of the most famous coffee-growing regions in Ethiopia. Coffee made from beans grown in the Yirgacheffe region can be called Yirgacheffe coffee regardless of the extraction method used. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will talk about this coffee-producing region that has been favored in the specialty coffee era.

Where is Yirgacheffe?

Yirgacheffe is located in southwestern Ethiopia. It was originally a small town belonging to the Gedeo zone. This small town is a natural wetland with abundant water resources and an average annual temperature of 15 to 25 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, the day-night temperature difference formed by the high-altitude geographical environment gives this town the ideal growing conditions required for Arabica coffee beans.

Yirgacheffe town originally belonged to Sidama, another famous coffee-producing region in Ethiopia. As the specialty coffee market's demand for coffee beans that can exhibit fresh flavors grew, the Ethiopian government began to observe the coffee produced in Yirgacheffe town.

Later, people recognized that coffee beans produced in the Yirgacheffe town area had unique floral and citrus notes, with different flavor profiles compared to coffee beans from other areas of Sidama. Many coffee bean traders specifically requested beans grown in Yirgacheffe town. Therefore, in 2010, the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange separated the Yirgacheffe region from the Sidama region, creating the now well-known Yirgacheffe coffee-producing region.

What varieties are Yirgacheffe coffee beans?

As the birthplace of coffee beans, Ethiopia has numerous coffee varieties that cannot be precisely categorized, and many plants still have their genetics undetermined and unnamed by humans to this day. The plants that farmers purchase or are distributed by the government are not precisely categorized by variety, belonging to a natural "one-pot stew" (mixed cultivation).

However, specialty coffee emphasizes clear variety identification, so most coffee beans produced in Ethiopia are labeled as Ethiopian heirloom varieties. Due to the inconsistency of varieties, FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that Ethiopian coffee beans show variations in size.

Why does Yirgacheffe have so many cooperatives? For fairer trade!

The Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) was established in 2002 and has 24 primary cooperatives with approximately 50,000 farmers.

Currently, cooperatives are not regulated by the ECX (Ethiopian Coffee Exchange) system for bulk coffee trading, allowing buyers to select each batch of green beans according to preference and quality, and trace detailed coffee archives such as producing region, growers/producers, etc. Through such direct trade, buyers and farmers build deeper relationships. In addition to receiving reasonable compensation, farmers can even obtain material or financial assistance such as berry processing equipment and processing facilities, enabling them to produce higher-quality coffee.

Since the implementation of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) system in 2008, most green coffee beans have been sold through bidding under this system. However, cooperatives are not under this regulation; they can directly negotiate, bargain with, and export to buyers. The establishment of cooperatives allows their member farmers to avoid low-price exploitation by intermediaries. When farmers face economic difficulties, cooperatives can also provide loan assistance, which is quite beneficial for both farmers and coffee production.

In Ethiopia, there are many cooperatives! Each cooperative processes coffee beans with its own unique characteristics. Among them, coffee beans produced by Gotiti Cooperative, Konga Cooperative, Werka Cooperative, Hafursa Cooperative, and Idido Cooperative are deeply loved by domestic specialty coffee consumers.

Gotiti Cooperative

Gotiti Cooperative is located in the Werka producing area at the southeastern end of Yirgacheffe. It was originally part of the Werka Cooperative under the YCFCU. Later, as people pursued traceability of coffee green beans, "single-origin" was discovered one by one by coffee hunters worldwide.

In 2012, Gotiti, with about 300 member farmers, independently established the "Gotiti Cooperative." Gotiti village was one of the first village areas to be separated, and many small farmers were originally members of the Werka Cooperative, so their coffee production skills are unquestionable. Gotiti Cooperative is known as the last pure land of Yirgacheffe, so it also uses very traditional bean processing methods (washed and natural processing methods).

FrontStreet Coffee sells a washed-processed coffee bean from Gotiti Cooperative, exhibiting citrus-like bright acidity, white floral notes, honey-like sweetness, and green tea-like aftertaste.

Konga Cooperative

Konga Cooperative is located in the Gedeo region, where most soil has high iron content, with soil depth above 1.5 meters. Deep soil allows coffee trees to root better and absorb water and nutrients from the soil more effectively.

Iron is a trace element essential for chlorophyll synthesis. Plants lacking iron cannot synthesize chlorophyll even under light conditions. FrontStreet Coffee believes that high-iron soil enables coffee trees to produce sufficient chlorophyll, allowing them to better photosynthesize and store nutrients, thereby improving the quality of coffee fruits.

FrontStreet Coffee sells a natural-processed coffee bean from Konga Cooperative, exhibiting citrus-like acidity, berry juice sensation, honey-like sweetness, and creamy smoothness.

Werka Cooperative

Werka Cooperative is affiliated with the YCFCU cooperative alliance organization. Established in 2005, Werka Cooperative is located in a remote area within the Yirgacheffe producing region, 75 kilometers from the local coffee distribution center of Dilla town, with poor connecting road conditions.

From the cooperative to the paved main highway, there is a 20-kilometer dirt road. The cooperative consists of 305 farmers with a cultivation area of approximately 763 hectares and an annual output of nearly 460 tons, making it a relatively small-scale farmers' cooperative. Because no chemical fertilizers and pesticides were used during coffee cultivation, Werka's small farmers also obtained Skal organic coffee certification recognized by the European Union.

The coffee is mainly grown by more than 700 local small farmers, processed using traditional washed and natural methods. Because Werka coffee's flavor profile prominently displays regional characteristics, it has also become one of the representatives of Ethiopian specialty coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee sells a washed-processed coffee bean from Werka Cooperative, exhibiting lemon and grapefruit-like acidity, ginger lily aroma, honey sweetness, and Tieguanyin-like tea sensation.

Hafursa Cooperative

Hafursa, also known as Harsa, was originally a village name in Ethiopia. When Ethiopia began establishing cooperatives to help coffee farmers in 1975, Hafursa Cooperative was established first, making it a "movement pioneer" among cooperatives.

The coffee berry sources for Hafursa Cooperative's processing plant mainly come from the slopes of Hafursa village, located west of the processing plant, with altitudes ranging from 1850m to the highest around 2100m. Another part comes from the slopes of the adjacent Konga village to the south of the processing plant, where altitudes range from 1870m to the highest 2000m.

Both coffee garden areas have excellent altitudes and slope orientations, which has become the fundamental condition for the cooperative to produce excellent green coffee beans.

IDIDO Cooperative

Idido Cooperative is situated in high-altitude valleys within Yirgacheffe town, with annual rainfall of about 1400-1800mm. Local small farmers grow coffee at altitudes around 2000 meters. Benefiting from cool mountain air, coffee matures slowly in good soil conditions and ecosystems. Small farmers then harvest fully ripe red cherries from December to February of the following year.

Like other cooperatives, Idido has excellent conditions for producing top-tier coffee: 1. High altitude 2. Excellent processing techniques 3. High-nutrient soil 4. Ethiopian heirloom varieties. Through cultivation in such a high-quality geographical environment, FrontStreet Coffee found that the coffee beans produced here have a charming floral aroma, somewhat similar to the characteristics of Geisha coffee.

Yirgacheffe coffee processing methods

In the Yirgacheffe region, coffee beans typically undergo both natural processing and washed processing.

The biggest difference between washed processing and natural processing is that washed processing aims to remove the coffee fruit skin and pulp, then ferment in clean water tanks to eliminate residual mucilage before sun-drying. Therefore, washed-processed coffee beans have a shorter drying time, overall cleaner flavors, and more pronounced acidity.

Meanwhile, natural-processed coffee beans retain the fruit skin and pulp and are sun-dried whole. Under high temperatures, sugars in the pulp ferment, so the coffee beans absorb these fermented flavors. To some extent, sugars from the pulp transfer into the beans, giving natural-processed coffee beans a light fermented aroma and more pronounced sweetness.

How to roast Yirgacheffe coffee beans?

The flavor characteristics of Yirgacheffe lie in its bright acidity and light floral notes, so FrontStreet Coffee uses light roasting when roasting batches from the Yirgacheffe region.

To allow everyone to experience the charm of freshly roasted coffee and appreciate the most comprehensive flavor expression of coffee, FrontStreet Coffee guarantees that coffee beans will be shipped within 5 days of roasting.

How to brew Yirgacheffe coffee beans?

Because high altitude makes the coffee beans themselves denser (harder), and most roasters use light roasting when roasting Yirgacheffe coffee beans to preserve their fresh tonality and bright acidity characteristics. Therefore, during coffee extraction, soluble substances in the coffee are released more slowly, so you can use medium-fine grinding (fine sugar size/80% pass-through rate with China No.20 standard sieve) and pair it with 90-92°C water temperature for extraction.

FrontStreet Coffee recommends a brewing ratio of 1:15, using a three-stage pouring method: start timing, first pour to 30g of water and let it bloom for 30 seconds; then begin the second stage with small circular pours to 125g, wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before continuing to pour, then continue with small circular pours to 225g. After all dripping is complete, the total extraction time should be around 2 minutes 00 seconds to 2 minutes 10 seconds.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473