What are the Pour-Over Techniques for Yirgacheffe? Sharing Yirgacheffe Coffee Bean Pour-Over Ratios

Pour-over Yirgacheffe coffee offers a light and elegant floral and fruity tea-like taste, distinct from traditional rich black coffee. Its bright and fresh fruit acidity and abundant white floral aroma create an unforgettable first impression. However, extracting such rich aromas and flavors requires certain techniques.

Yirgacheffe Coffee is Typically Medium-Light Roasted

The name Yirgacheffe originates from Yirgacheffe town, a sub-producing region in Ethiopia's Sidamo province. Later, because the coffee produced here had a unique flavor that became world-renowned, it was separated and established its own school. Yirgacheffe, along with two other famous producing regions—Sidamo and Harar—were registered as commercial trademarks by the Ethiopian government. Therefore, what we call Yirgacheffe today refers more to a coffee flavor trademark.

The so-called Yirgacheffe flavor features graceful citrus, lemon, and berry sweet and sour notes, along with intense floral aromas and a pleasant tea-like sensation. To express such refined flavors and mouthfeel, high-quality growing conditions, variety, processing method, as well as roasting and brewing are all indispensable.

If you're a newcomer to the coffee world, FrontStreet Coffee recommends a washed Yirgacheffe daily bean, selected from local Ethiopian native coffee beans and medium-light roasted. FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series allows friends new to the coffee circle to taste the basic flavors of producing regions at affordable prices, while small packaging design also avoids waste from unfinished coffee. Of course, as fans of Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee naturally offers more than just one variety. For daily hand-pour Yirgacheffe coffee at FrontStreet Coffee stores, there are three options to choose from, including the washed Gedeb cooperative coffee and natural red cherry coffee, both very popular Yirgacheffes.

Due to the small size of Yirgacheffe coffee beans, deep roasting can easily lead to uneven heating or even scorching, so roasters tend to prefer medium-light roasting. Unexpectedly, it was discovered that lightly roasted Yirgacheffe not only presents uplifting acidity but also has highly recognizable fruit flavors, becoming a trend in the coffee market. FrontStreet Coffee wants everyone to experience the classic Yirgacheffe taste, so all three Yirgacheffe varieties are medium-light roasted.

Preparation Before Hand Pouring

Before brewing, we first need to prepare the following equipment: pour-over kettle, filter cup, server, grinder, filter paper, electronic scale, thermometer, and a package of Yirgacheffe coffee beans at their optimal flavor period. Here, FrontStreet Coffee will use washed Yirgacheffe daily beans for demonstration.

The grinder plays a very important role in pour-over coffee, as the coarseness and uniformity of the coffee grounds directly affect the taste of a cup of hand-pour coffee. If the coffee grounds are too coarse, extraction is likely insufficient, resulting in a bland taste; if too fine, over-extraction occurs, leading to bitterness. FrontStreet Coffee uses a tool to adjust grind size—China's No. 20 0.85mm standard sieve. For medium-light roasted coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee consistently uses a 75-80% sieve passing rate, while for medium-dark roasted coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee uses 70-75%. Here, Yirgacheffe is a medium-light roasted high-altitude coffee bean, and FrontStreet Coffee wants to extract more rich aromatic substances, so chooses a grind size with an 80% passing rate through the No. 20 standard sieve. The store uses an EK43s grinder setting of 10.

Water temperature and grind size play similar roles. The higher the water temperature, the higher the coffee extraction efficiency, making it easier to release various substances and resulting in higher concentration. If using near-boiling hot water for brewing, it's easy to extract unpleasant bitter substances. Therefore, when brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee uses different brewing parameters than for light roasted beans. The caramelization reaction will be greater than in light roasted beans, making it easier to release bitter large-molecule substances. To avoid extracting too many impurities, FrontStreet Coffee will slightly lower the water temperature, so FrontStreet Coffee recommends 87-90°C for medium-dark roasted coffee beans, while light roasted coffee requires higher temperatures to stimulate aromas, thus using 91-93°C.

FrontStreet Coffee stores typically choose Hario V60 and KONO filter cups for daily production. The V60 filter cup is mainly responsible for producing lighter roasted coffee beans, while the KONO filter cup handles darker roasted beans. Here, FrontStreet Coffee's barista will use a resin V60 filter cup to extract Yirgacheffe coffee. The V60 filter cup has flow ribs connecting the top and bottom and a large circular hole in the center, which accelerates water flow speed. The spiral-shaped exhaust groove design extends the water flow path, increasing contact time between coffee grounds and hot water. Each water stream converges along the grooves toward the filter cup's center point, concentrating pressure on the coffee grounds and resulting in more layered extracted coffee.

Pour-Over Technique Sharing

FrontStreet Coffee's flavor descriptions for each coffee bean are based on freshly roasted beans. If coffee beans are stored for more than two months, aromas may have partially dissipated, making it difficult to restore the original flavors during brewing. FrontStreet Coffee also deeply understands the importance of freshness, so ensures only coffee beans roasted within 5 days are shipped, allowing everyone to enjoy the most complete flavor period upon receipt.

Based on past brewing experience, FrontStreet Coffee recommends that newcomers adopt a three-stage pouring method. Three-stage extraction helps more fully dissolve flavor substances during extraction, increasing mouthfeel layers while avoiding over-extraction from prolonged soaking. For 15 grams of coffee grounds with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio and 225ml total water, the three-stage water amounts are divided into: 30ml, 95ml, and 100ml, with the electronic scale showing: 30g, 125g, and 225g.

First, place the folded filter paper in the filter cup and wet it with water to fit better. Prepare hot water and a measuring thermometer, while pouring 15 grams of ground coffee into the filter cup and zeroing the electronic scale.

For the first stage, pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Start timing while pouring, using a small water stream to pour from the center point outward in circles, ensuring the entire coffee bed is moistened.

After 30 seconds, begin pouring the second stage of 95g water with a slightly larger, steady stream to raise the entire coffee bed. The water column needs to be poured vertically and evenly, with the timer scale showing 125g, completing around 55 seconds.

When the liquid level drops to about halfway, begin pouring the third stage of 100g using a small stream in small circles. Try to control the water stream to avoid making circles too large, which can scatter the coffee bed and cause insufficient extraction. Finally, the total pour amount reaches 225g, with drip completion taking approximately 2 minutes. After removing the filter cup, shake the coffee liquid in the server evenly before tasting.

The water amount for each stage is not fixed. We can adjust it based on our accumulated pour-over experience and understanding of coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee understands coffee brewing as a scientific experiment. To master pour-over coffee, we need to deeply understand the true meaning of each brewing parameter. Only then can we easily find experimental methods and establish a brewing framework suitable for ourselves.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473