Introduction to Ethiopian Washed Hero Coffee Bean Characteristics & Yirgacheffe Pour-Over Brewing Techniques

FrontStreet Coffee — Ethiopia Sidamo Hero Washed Coffee

Hambella lies inside Guji, Ethiopia's largest coffee-producing region, and belongs administratively to the Oromia zone. To the west, its elevated plateau — climbing to about 3,200 meters and roughly 30 kilometers wide — faces the Kochore district of Yirgacheffe across the mountains. To the southeast, east and north it borders Guji's Shakiso, Uraga and Kercha sub-regions, which makes Hambella the highest-altitude coffee sub-region in Ethiopia (Harrar remains the country's highest-altitude main coffee-producing region).

Today FrontStreet Coffee would like to introduce a Taste of Harvest champion from Ethiopia whose name is every bit as striking as its cup: Ethiopia · Hero · Sorsa · Washed.

TOH stands for Taste of Harvest, a green-bean competition held every year among twelve coffee-producing countries in Africa and organized by the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA). It works much like the Cup of Excellence (COE) in the Americas, except that TOH also runs regional and all-Africa rounds alongside the national competition.

The format is straightforward. In the preliminary round, any batch cupping below 80 points is eliminated, and the best green beans from each region advance to the national level. Domestic and international judges then cup and score those lots against Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) standards, and the highest scorer is crowned that year's national champion.

Ethiopia · Hero · Sorsa · Washed

Origin: Guji, Hambella Wamena region, Dimtu city, Haro Soresa Estate

Variety: Heirloom, Ethiopian native varieties

Altitude: 2,000–2,150 m

Processing method: Washed

Roast level: Light

Flavor notes: Red grapefruit, tropical fruit, cherry, apricot; high sweetness and a juicy mouthfeel

2016/17 Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest competition runner-up (first place in the washed category)

2016/2017 harvest season Ethiopia coffee competition runner-up

Pour-over parameters: 15 g coffee, V60 dripper, water temperature 91°C, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, grind size BG 6S (58% pass-through on a Chinese standard #20 mesh sieve).

Technique: Bloom with 30 g of water for 30 seconds, then pour evenly in stages with a gentle stream to 120 g. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225 g and stop. When the bed is about to be exposed again, remove the dripper. Do not use the tail-end water. The extraction time from the start of the bloom should be around 2 minutes.

Knowledge Extension

In Ethiopia most coffee grows wild or semi-wild — in fields, backyards or under forest canopy. What farmers actually harvest is a broad mix of many different natural varieties, which is why Ethiopian coffee beans are usually labeled simply as "Heirloom."

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If a clean, washed Ethiopian cup like the Hero above is the style you enjoy, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is the most natural next step. As an everyday staple it is often the first specialty coffee people try: white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity and a tea-like body, at a price that makes it easy to brew often. Yirgacheffe is a town in southern Ethiopia, within the Sidama zone, at roughly 1,700–2,100 m, with the coffee trees themselves planted above 1,800 m. Its name became so well known that in 2010 the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange finally separated it from the Sidama region as a designation of its own.

For a more focused expression of the same terroir, FrontStreet Coffee also carries the washed Banko Gotiti Cooperative lot. The cooperative sits in the Worka area at the south-eastern tip of Yirgacheffe and was originally part of the Worka cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers' Cooperative Union (YCFCU) before the push for traceable single origins turned it into a name in its own right. Its traditional washed processing keeps the cup clean and bright — fresh citrus and lemon acidity with jasmine florals rather than bitterness. If you want more fruit, the natural Red Cherry lot takes only fully ripe, sound cherries, dries them on raised beds for three to five weeks and turns them every two to three hours in the first few days so they dry evenly; the result adds tropical fruit, berry juice, honey sweetness and a creamy texture to the classic Yirgacheffe profile.

Brew any of these as a pour-over in a V60: 15 g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio, water at 90–91°C, ground about like caster sugar (an EK43s at setting 10, or 80% passing a #20 mesh sieve). Bloom with 30 g of water for 30 seconds, pour to roughly 125 g on the scale over about a minute, then add the remaining 100 g (to about 225 g) once the bed has dropped to two-thirds, finishing the pour at about 1:35 and the drawdown at 2:00–2:10.