The Correct Brewing Method for Yirgacheffe - Introduction to Ethiopian Coffee Bean Varieties

FrontStreet Coffee still remembers when they first tasted a cup of Ethiopian pour-over coffee. They were so captivated by the pleasant sweet and sour fruity flavors that they fell into the world of specialty coffee. Many friends, like FrontStreet Coffee, are particularly fond of the floral and fruity notes of Ethiopian coffee. Today, FrontStreet Coffee wants to talk about that captivating coffee—the finest representative of Ethiopian specialty coffee—Yirgacheffe.

Ethiopian Coffee Cultivation and Culture

Have you noticed that in the menus of cafés serving pour-over coffee, while they might not have famous single-origin coffees like Geisha or Blue Mountain, they will always have Ethiopian coffee available. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean menu features eight different Ethiopian beans, with the commonly heard Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, and Guji among the top choices.

Ethiopia is the largest coffee-producing country in Africa. Here, coffee is not just an important source of income for the Ethiopian people—it has been deeply integrated into their entire national culture and daily life. Coffee is a crucial economic crop locally, with most regions of the country having traditions of both growing and drinking coffee. Ethiopia's coffee production system is divided into four types: forest coffee, semi-forest coffee, garden coffee, and large plantations. Among these, garden coffee is the most common, with each household cultivating no less than 4 hectares. Due to the small production volume from small-scale farming, there are numerous coffee cooperatives and processing stations of various sizes locally, mainly responsible for processing green coffee beans in their respective regions. Farmers deliver their harvested coffee beans to nearby processing stations built near water sources for unified processing, and subsequently sell them under the processing station's name.

In addition to being used for export sales, a significant portion of Ethiopian coffee is consumed domestically. Here, regardless of wealth or status, every household has a set of coffee-making utensils. For Ethiopians, drinking coffee is as important a social activity as drinking tea is for us.

Ethiopians also have a coffee ceremony with a very long history. First, they roast green coffee beans in a flat pan, then crush them with a mortar and pestle, and finally boil them in a clay pot called a "Jebena." When the hot water mixed with coffee grounds begins to boil, it means the coffee is ready for tasting. The coffee ceremony consists of three rounds: the first cup is called Abol, during which elders say blessings; the second cup is Tona, when people begin to chat about daily life; and the third cup, Beraka, symbolizes joy. Only after finishing this cup does the ceremony truly conclude.

Ethiopian Coffee Varieties Are Heirloom

Friends who often drink Ethiopian coffee might notice that Ethiopian coffee beans vary in shape and size, which is particularly common among natural-processed beans. However, this is completely normal. As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia preserves over ten thousand Arabica heirloom varieties, making it a natural coffee museum. Coffee cultivation is predominantly done by small-scale farmers, who essentially grow coffee on their own. During harvest season, processing stations directly purchase coffee cherries from nearby farmers for processing.

Coffee varieties are inherently complex and difficult to identify. Furthermore, the Ethiopian government,出于保护的考虑, is unwilling to make these varieties public. Therefore, these coffee varieties are collectively called "Heirloom." As an agricultural crop, the expression of coffee flavor naturally depends on the innate factors of variety and terroir. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the captivating aroma and fruitiness of Ethiopian coffee are largely attributed to the unique growing environment and the excellent quality of heirloom varieties.

Yirgacheffe

The famous Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia, situated at an altitude of around 1,700-2,200 meters. With lower temperatures, coffee grows relatively slowly here, allowing sufficient time to accumulate more nutrients and flavor compounds. Due to the unique flavor and high quality of the produced coffee beans, Ethiopian farmers take pride in their coffee having Yirgacheffe characteristics.

The Yirgacheffe growing region was originally managed under Ethiopia's Sidamo region. Later, due to its distinctive flavor and growing reputation, it separated from the larger Sidamo region to become an exclusive Yirgacheffe growing area. The small town is shrouded in mist, with spring-like weather year-round, gentle breezes, cool but not hot temperatures, rain but not excessive humidity, and winters without frost damage—making it exceptionally suitable for the growth of coffee as an agricultural crop.

Washed-Processed Yirgacheffe

In the eyes of global coffee enthusiasts, Yirgacheffe is one of the outstanding representatives of African coffee beans. It possesses bright acidity, distinct yellow lemon aromas rather than general citrus notes, and a very clean mouthfeel and aftertaste. The reason Yirgacheffe can have such a distinctive style is largely due to the washed processing technology that the Ethiopian government introduced from Central and South America in 1972, in addition to its inherent terroir conditions.

The post-harvest processing of coffee beans is a professional technique. As the saying goes, "every profession has its specialty"—farmers who know how to grow coffee don't necessarily know how to process green coffee beans. Specialty coffee processing procedures are intricate and delicate, often requiring "high-capital" equipment investment for production monitoring. Farms using the washed method must build washing pools and have access to continuous fresh water, making production costs higher. The multiple steps of washed processing not only significantly reduce coffee defect rates but also give Yirgacheffe its fresh citrus notes and elegant white floral aromas, resulting in an overall flavor that is bright, delicate, and clean—thus earning widespread acclaim.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe daily beans use washed processing and medium-light roasting, carrying the classic Yirgacheffe flavor profile, suitable for various brewing methods such as pour-over, cold brew, French press, and more. FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series allows friends new to the coffee world to experience the basic flavors of the growing region at affordable prices, while the small packaging design also avoids waste from unfinished coffee. If you want to taste the classic aromas of Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee believes that hand-brewed black coffee is the perfect choice.

Although washed coffee once became popular, natural processing still occupies the main portion of Ethiopian coffee. What's different from the past is that today's natural processing invests more thought in manual sorting and ensuring even drying. The Gedeb cooperative coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's menu are Yirgacheffe processed using classic washed methods, while another variety—the Red Cherry coffee beans—are Yirgacheffe processed with refined natural methods, offering more full fermentation notes and tropical fruit flavors.

The Correct Brewing Method for Yirgacheffe

Some fans have left messages on FrontStreet Coffee's backend asking FrontStreet Coffee, saying that their brewed Yirgacheffe coffee only tastes sour and lacks the rich aromas they experience at FrontStreet Coffee's stores. Here, FrontStreet Coffee will share their extraction approach for Yirgacheffe based on their store brewing standards.

First, regardless of the extraction method used, FrontStreet Coffee believes that the freshness of coffee beans is very important. For coffee roasted more than two months ago, the aromas have likely significantly diminished. Even with excellent extraction techniques, it's difficult to restore the cup's aromatic qualities. To let everyone experience coffee at its best tasting stage, FrontStreet Coffee only ships beans freshly roasted within 5 days. By the time you receive them, they're ready for brewing.

Since Yirgacheffe uses light roasting, the coffee beans have a relatively hard texture and require high-temperature water at 92°C-93°C to extract the floral and fruit flavors from the coffee. FrontStreet Coffee recommends a medium-fine grind size (Chinese standard #20 sieve with 78% pass rate). Too coarse, and you can't extract the body compounds, resulting in thin coffee; too fine, and it's easy to over-extract at high water temperatures, producing bitterness. If your brewed coffee only tastes sour, it's likely because the water temperature is too low, preventing the coffee from fully releasing its flavor compounds.

During cupping, FrontStreet Coffee noticed that this bean exhibits different flavors at various temperatures, so they use a three-stage extraction method, allowing different flavor compounds to better express themselves as the coffee bed gradually heats up. To highlight the fresh and captivating aromas of washed Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee uses a V60 dripper for brewing. The spiral rib design of the dripper allows the coffee grounds to degas better, maximizing the volatilization and dissolution of aromatic compounds.

For brewing ratios, FrontStreet Coffee believes that 1:15 to 1:16 are both acceptable. If you want a richer body, use 1:15; if you want to more clearly perceive the floral and sweet notes, you can use 1:16 to allow the flavors to open up more.

Dripper: V60
Water temperature: 92-93°C
Coffee dose: 15g
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Grind size: Fine sugar consistency (sieved to 78% through #20 sieve)

Three-stage pour: Wet the coffee bed with twice the amount of water to the coffee grounds, forming a dome for a 30-second bloom. Then, using a small water stream, pour in a circular motion from inside to out until reaching 125g for the first split. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the height of the dripper, then continue with the same fine water stream for the third stage until reaching 225g. Remove the dripper once all coffee liquid has filtered through, taking about 2 minutes total. After the coffee from the dripper flows into the lower pot, remove the dripper, then shake the coffee liquid in the serving pot to mix evenly, and you can begin tasting Yirgacheffe's flavors starting from high temperatures.

Flavor Description of Hand-brewed Washed Yirgacheffe

When washed Yirgacheffe coffee beans are ground into powder, you can smell the fresh aromas of honey and jasmine. As FrontStreet Coffee pours hot water, it begins to release subtle berry notes. The hand-brewed black coffee enters with bright lemon, citrus, and green tea notes. As the temperature changes, it reveals berry, cream, and sugarcane in the aftertaste, with a noticeable sweet aftertaste and a clean, sweet mouthfeel.

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