Characteristics of Ethiopia Coffee Beans: The Oldest Flavor of Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe

FrontStreet Coffee - An Introduction to Ethiopian Coffee

In Ethiopia, the tradition of harvesting wild coffee continues to this day. Coffee gardens at elevations above 1,500 meters have evolved and adapted over thousands of years, developing flavors found nowhere else. Grown in these natural wild environments, Ethiopian coffee preserves the most primitive, authentic taste of the bean.

Ethiopia is one of Africa's major producers of Arabica coffee and is widely recognized as the birthplace of coffee itself. The Arabica species was most likely first discovered in southern Sudan, but it was in Ethiopia that it truly flourished. People there consumed coffee fruits from the earliest times — initially as fruit rather than as a beverage. Yemen was the first country to cultivate coffee as a crop, but Ethiopians had been gathering wild coffee fruit long before that.

The Heirloom native variety, ancient and prized, expresses its own distinct character in every one of Ethiopia's growing regions.

Today roughly 25% of Ethiopia's population depends directly or indirectly on coffee production for a living, and the country is Africa's largest coffee producer — yet 40% of the crop is reserved for domestic consumption, proof of how indispensable coffee is to local life. Most farmers still use traditional methods: coffee trees are tended by hand, organic fertilizers replace chemicals, and harmful pesticides and herbicides are avoided, so Ethiopian coffee is largely organic by default. Depending on cultivation style, Ethiopian coffee falls into four types: Forest coffee, semi-forest coffee, Garden coffee, and Plantation coffee.

Yirgacheffe is one of Ethiopia's highest-altitude growing regions, and its methods and flavors are so distinctive that farmers take pride when their coffee shows Yirgacheffe character — it has become the most famous growing region in all of Africa.

Natural Processing Method

After harvest, coffee cherries are hand-sorted, then spread on the ground or on drying racks to dry. Once dried, the husks are removed to obtain the green beans. Naturally processed coffee typically shows lower acidity, more pronounced sweetness, and a fuller body, at a slight cost to cleanliness.

What are the advantages of natural processing? The greatest is water conservation — and less water pollution. Of course, refined natural processing demands more labor and time, and the resulting flavors are typically more vivid and distinctive, often fetching higher prices than washed coffees.

Knowledge Point: Ethiopia, one of the world's least developed countries, is recognized as the birthplace of Arabica coffee — and could even be considered the birthplace of coffee itself.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Ethiopia's natural-processing tradition lives on in FrontStreet's natural Red Cherry Yirgacheffe. Unlike washed lots, natural processing begins by culling any broken or moldy cherries, which are then sun-dried for two weeks so the sugars and essence of the fruit soak into the bean; when moisture drops to 12%, the hardened skin, mucilage, and parchment are milled away. The green beans then pass density and color checks, with defective beans culled by machine and again by hand — layer after layer of selection, so that every bean that survives is specialty grade: impeccably clean with a rich, captivating fruit aroma. FrontStreet's Red Cherry natural cup reads peach, cocoa, honey, and lemon. If you prefer a cleaner introduction to the region, FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe offers clear jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity with a light, elegant, tea-like body — like a refreshing, clean lemon tea.