How is Ethiopian Coffee Flavor Profile? Introduction to Single-Origin Coffee Varieties

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Introduction to Ethiopian Coffee and Single-Origin Varieties

Ethiopia's geography suits coffee cultivation remarkably well. Coffee is grown mainly in the southern highlands, at elevations from 1,100 to 2,300 meters. The major producing regions include Harar, Limu, Djimma, Sidamo, Kaffa, Yergacheffe, and Wellega, and the soil across them drains well, runs slightly acidic, and is loose and red.

In Ethiopia, both washed and natural processing are common. In natural processing, farmers spread the cherries out on flat surfaces to dry in the sun. This usually takes two to six weeks, with the beans spread and turned regularly to dry evenly, after which the seeds are separated from the cherries. Typical washed Ethiopian coffee shows elegant flavors with delicate floral and citrus notes, a smooth mouthfeel, and clear regional character. Natural-processed coffee, by contrast, is rounder and richer in fruit. Compared with a washed lot, a high-quality natural coffee keeps the fresh lemon acidity and the florals while adding sweetness and body.

Single-Origin Coffee Varieties

Arabica is the representative variety originating from Ethiopia, and it is also grown in a number of African and Asian countries, accounting for 70-75% of global coffee production. Arabica resists pests and disease poorly, which makes highland regions better suited to it, and Arabica beans grown above 1,500 meters are the finest. Coffee grown this carefully, with balanced flavor, mouthfeel, and aroma, can be certified as premium beans and is used mainly as single-origin or specialty coffee.

Typica

Typica is the original variety from which all Arabica cultivars descend. It is said to have originated in southern Sudan, gradually flourished in Ethiopia, and finally reached Yemen around the 7th century for commercial production. The Dutch carried Typica to the East Indies, and it was also the first coffee variety to reach the West Indies; Gabriel de Clieu planted it on the French island of Martinique in 1720.

Typica's ripe fruit is red. The variety yields relatively little and withstands disease very poorly, but its superb cup quality has made it popular around the world.

Bourbon

Bourbon arose from a genetic mutation of the original Typica variety on Réunion Island, and it is the parent, or even grandparent, of many popular Latin American cultivars, including Caturra, Catuai, Pacas, and Mundo Novo.

Bourbon remains widely popular in Latin America today, and it has also crossed the oceans to Africa, taking root in Rwanda and Burundi. Its ripe fruit is mostly red, though yellow and orange types exist. Bourbon yields 20-30% more than Typica; its flavor is a little sweeter and sometimes better balanced, but the two varieties are broadly very similar.

Catimor

Catimor is a hybrid of Caturra and Timor. Do not confuse it with Caturra and Catuai. This highly disease-resistant plant can fend off coffee leaf rust, so it was planted widely across Latin America in the 1980s. Unfortunately, because the Timor variety, also called Arabusta, is a natural hybrid of Typica Arabica and Robusta, the cross can pass along disease resistance, but the delicate Arabica flavor is lost.

Catuai

Brazil developed Catuai in the 1950s. A hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo, it has strong disease resistance and high yields. Like Caturra, Catuai's ripe fruit naturally falls into red and yellow types, and we happen to prefer the former. Catuai is known for its rich acidity and is a common variety across most Central American countries.

Caturra

In the 1930s, a genetic mutation of Bourbon was found near the city of Caturra in Brazil, and it was later named Caturra. Caturra yields heavily, and its compact form makes for easy harvesting, but in low-altitude conditions that same trait becomes its downfall: the coffee turns out light, and the weight of the fruit itself can kill the plant. Grown at high altitude, above 1,200 meters, both the quality and the yield of Caturra are more assured. Caturra is a common variety in the Central American coffee belt.

Geisha

Geisha, with its slightly elongated fruit and leaves, is a genetic mutation of Typica, said to come from the small town of Geisha in southwestern Ethiopia. In the 1930s, Geisha seeds were carried to Tanzania, and in the 1950s they traveled to Costa Rica. Those two countries are the only significant growing regions for Geisha outside Panama, even though Panama is Geisha's best ambassador.

In Panama's high-altitude growing regions, Geisha proved to the world, through its tropical flavors, citrus, and tea character, that it is an undisputed coffee variety. (Note: Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee is known as the king of coffee.) Everyone loves good coffee, and we sincerely hope Geisha can reach other countries too.

Pacamara

Pacamara was developed by El Salvador in the late 1950s. A hybrid of Pacas and Maragogipe, it is now highly sought after. Like Maragogipe, it is large, typically twice the size of a standard Bourbon bean, and its yield is average. Pacamara's quality is widely praised, with a clean acidity and refreshing floral notes, and it shows its greatest advantage when grown at higher altitudes.

SL-28

The "SL" in SL-28 stands for Scott Laboratories, a technology company the Kenyan government hired in the 1930s to identify the local coffee varieties best suited to large-scale cultivation. SL-28 has become a benchmark variety in several Kenyan growing regions, in part because of its intense blackcurrant flavor. SL-28 is suited to high-altitude cultivation.

SL-34

SL-34 is slightly inferior in quality to its sister SL-28, though that does not mean it is poor. It, too, has prominent acidity and berry flavors. Compared with SL-28, SL-34 performs better at lower altitudes, despite its larger number, and if grown high it withstands heavy rain better, so people mostly choose high-altitude cultivation for it. Both SL-28 and SL-34, however, are highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust.

Knowledge Bonus: Arabica coffee plants produce fruit with more subtle flavors, their varieties are widely distributed and clearly defined, and the coffee they yield has a distinctive appearance and style.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To taste the single-origin styles above in the cup, FrontStreet's Ethiopian selection is a good starting point. FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe is the classic entry-level cup, with clear jasmine florals and a bright citrus acidity, light and elegant on the palate with a tea-like body, like a clean glass of iced lemon tea. FrontStreet's Gedeb Cooperative coffee, from the cooperative that split off from the Woka Cooperative in 2012, is a traditional washed lot that makes the most of jasmine and bright citrus, and at a medium-light roast it opens up green tea and honey notes.

For the natural side, FrontStreet's sun-dried Red Cherry shows peach, cocoa, honey, and lemon, while the natural Flower Queen from the Hambella area of Guji brings strawberry, passion fruit, and jackfruit with a heavy, syrupy body. FrontStreet's Hamasho 74158, from a Sidamo washing station known for the JARC 74-series disease-resistant varieties, adds perfume lemon, strawberry, and star fruit. And FrontStreet's Kaffa Forest coffee, a medium-light roast from a shade-grown origin, rounds things out with white florals, bright lemon acidity, sweet orange, and a green-tea finish.