Cold Brew Yirgacheffe Coffee Flavor Profile & How to Choose Grind Size for Pour-Over Coffee

Introduction to FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Cold Drip Coffee

Cold drip coffee makes the most of a natural affinity between coffee and water, relying on the gentle pressure of condensation over roughly 8 hours to draw the coffee out drop by drop. What the distiller produces will shift with the roast level, the amount of water, the water temperature, the dripping speed, and the coarseness of the grind, among other variables. Change any one of them and you get a different cold drip coffee. The equipment itself is elegant and beautifully made, with as much appeal as a collector's piece as a working tool.

Today FrontStreet Coffee is using a Yirgacheffe coffee to make cold drip, and we will see what surprises it holds.

We selected a Yirgacheffe Aricha from the Kebel Aricha processing station, where around 650-700 smallholders from the surrounding area deliver their ripe cherries in exchange for cash. Once the station has sorted out the usable cherries, they go straight onto raised drying beds in the sun. For the first few days they are turned every 2-3 hours to keep them from over-fermenting. After four to six weeks of natural processing, workers strip away the outer fruit by machine, depending on the weather and temperature, and the beans are moved to Addis for storage. Naturally processed beans are usually kept in parchment until they are hulled just before export, which protects green bean quality. This lot of natural Aricha was rated G1, the highest grade, by the ECX, and it shows it: outstanding green bean appearance, consistency, freshness, dry aroma, and flavor. If you love bright acidity and deep berry notes, this is one you should not miss.

Cold Drip Coffee Making Steps

1. A standard cold drip tower has three basic sections: an upper chamber, a middle chamber, and a lower chamber. The upper chamber holds the ice-water mixture, while the middle chamber is the coffee basket. First close the water control valve at the bottom of the upper chamber and fill it with pure cold water, or an ice-water mix.

2. Set a clean lower chamber beneath the middle chamber to catch the brewed coffee.

3. Lay a filter paper flat in the bottom of the coffee basket, add an appropriate amount of ground coffee, tap gently a few times to level the bed, then lay another filter paper flat on top.

4. Open the water control valve at the bottom of the upper chamber and set the dripping speed. We usually keep it at 40-50 drops per minute, which takes 5-8 hours to yield 1000 ml of cold drip coffee.

5. Once the water in the upper chamber runs out, take off the lower chamber and enjoy.

Flavor Description

Light fermented wine aroma, jujube, sweet citrus notes, dark berries, lychee, starfruit, peach, nectarine, longan and red date fragrance, honey sweetness, cocoa with subtle spice notes, full body with a long-lasting aftertaste.

If you would rather use this bean for pour-over, grind it as coarse as granulated sugar and brew at a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15.

Know Your Coffee

The advantages of cold drip coffee: it is neither sour nor bitter, it is gentle on the stomach, and it keeps for up to a week, with the best flavor typically arriving on the third day.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For cold drip and cold brew, a bright washed Ethiopian is hard to beat, and the FrontStreet washed Yirgacheffe is the natural starting point. Built on white jasmine, vivid citrus and lemon acidity, and a clean tea-like body, it is the bean that has introduced countless drinkers to specialty coffee, and its modest price means you can brew it in quantity without thinking twice.

If you want the berry and stone-fruit intensity that cold extraction draws out so well, reach for the FrontStreet Natural Red Cherry. It is made from fully ripe cherries only, dried whole on raised beds for three to five weeks with careful turning, so it keeps the classic Yirgacheffe profile while gaining a tropical fruit lift. Expect citrus acidity, juicy berry notes, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy, rounded mouthfeel that comes through beautifully over ice.