Yirgacheffe Coffee Bean Pour-Over Method Sharing & Grind Size Standards Reference

FrontStreet Coffee – Yirgacheffe Banko Dhadhato & Pour-Over Grind Size Introduction

Yirgacheffe is located in the Gedeo region of southern Ethiopia, which governs the relatively well-known Yirgacheffe and Kochere areas. Thanks to the special flavor, unique style, and enormous popularity of the coffee produced there, Yirgacheffe has earned its own category in product classification and has always held a significant position in the global specialty coffee market.

The Banko Dhadhato cooperative in Gedeb sits in a village in the Gedeb Woreda area, southeast of Yirgacheffe. It is organized by local smallholder farmers from Banko Dhadhato village and belongs to the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU).

Established in 2012, it now consists of 177 member families. These smallholders farm an average of about 1 hectare each, at planting altitudes of roughly 1,800 to 2,000 meters, and the main variety is Heirloom (local native varieties). Each farmer produces an average of 650–700 kilograms per hectare. The local production model is simple: smallholders deliver each harvest of red cherries directly to the cooperative's processing facility for unified processing.

This is a new, limited-quantity bean imported by FrontStreet Coffee — introduced as a sample to test what makes it special!

Grind Size and Pour-Over Brewing

The coarseness of the grounds affects how much — and how quickly — coffee compounds are extracted during brewing. Generally speaking, grind size divides into five levels: coarse, medium, medium-fine, fine, and very fine.

Medium-Fine Grind (Suitable for Light Roast Beans, BG-6S)

Medium-fine grind is about the texture of white sugar (the ordinary supermarket kind, slightly larger than other varieties). Pour-over coffee almost always uses a medium-fine grind — and because it's so common, coffee enthusiasts should experiment with their grinders to find the medium-fine setting that suits them best.

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Banko Dhadhato G1

Region: Gedeb

Variety: Heirloom Native Ancient Varieties

Altitude: 1800–2000m

Processing Method: Washed G1

Pour-Over Brewing Method

Equipment: Hario V60, Water Temperature: 90°C, Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15; Grind Size: Medium-fine (BG-6S: 58% pass-through rate on China Standard No. 20 sieve)

Brewing Technique: Segmented extraction. Use 30g of water for a 40-second bloom (extended because of the beans' freshness and abundant gas). Perform the first cut when the scale reaches 124g. Continue pouring in small circles to 228g just before the water level would expose the coffee bed. Remove the dripper when the level is about to expose the bed (timing starts at the beginning of the bloom). Extraction time: 2'00".

Flavor: Lemon, berries, citrus, white peach tea

Knowledge Extension

Beginners are advised to start with a medium grind for pour-over. A medium grind is less likely to produce very fine particles, and it's also more forgiving of unstable flow control early on — which would otherwise let water pool in the dripper and over-extract the coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the Banko Dhadhato sample has you craving more Yirgacheffe, start with FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe house lot — known for white jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like finish, at a price that has made it many people's first specialty bean. Yirgacheffe itself is a small town in Sidamo province at roughly 1,700–2,100 meters, with coffee grown above 1,800 meters — among the highest zones in the world — and its unmistakable white florals and lemon-citrus acidity have become shorthand for Ethiopian specialty coffee. For brewing, FrontStreet Coffee recommends the V60 at 90–91°C, 15g of coffee, a 1:15 ratio, and a fine-sugar grind (80% pass-through on a #20 sieve): bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, pour to about 125g in the first minute, then top up to 225g by about 1'35", with drip finishing at 2'00"–2'10".

For a more traceable micro-lot, FrontStreet Coffee's Guodingding cooperative sits in the Worka area at Yirgacheffe's southeastern edge — once part of the Worka cooperative under the YCFCU, later dug out by coffee hunters worldwide as a "single-origin" village station. Using the most traditional washed processing, it has none of the traditional bitterness: just fresh, bright citrus and lemon acidity wrapped in jasmine fragrance, with elegant white florals, orange, and green tea notes after a medium-light roast.

And for the natural side of the region, FrontStreet Coffee's Red Cherry lot uses fully-ripe, whole-cherry sun drying — only mature, defect-free cherries are picked, sorted at the station, then dried on raised beds and turned every 2–3 hours in the early days to prevent uneven heating and over-fermentation. After three to five weeks, the outer fruit is machine-scraped off and the beans rest in the warehouse. Because the cherries dry with their fruit intact, the cup keeps classic Yirgacheffe character while gaining tropical fruit: citrus-like acidity, berry juice, honeyed sweetness, and a cream-smooth body.