How Does Washed Guji Taste and Feel? Meet Sidamo Washed Hero and Witness Champion Style

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FrontStreet Coffee - Guji Washed Hero Coffee Introduction

Around 1740, the Dutch in the West Indies discovered that after removing the skin from coffee cherries, the mucilage layer could be easily peeled off after soaking in water for fermentation. This was the earliest washed processing method. Before the Dutch invented the washed method, people commonly used the completely dry natural method, which involved directly drying coffee cherries outdoors in sunlight. This process had many uncontrollable factors - if the weather was humid, the nutrient-rich mucilage layer could easily cause coffee cherries to mold or attract pests.

Ethiopia has a long tradition of natural processing, and today, natural processing has become very refined. The washed method effectively avoids these problems, so it quickly became popular worldwide. Especially in Central and South America, there is a strong preference for washed processing. It is precisely the washed method that created the impression of Central and South American beans as "uniform in appearance, excellent in presentation, with a clean and smooth taste."

On the other hand, the washed method is actually a processing technique that requires relatively high technical skills. It requires multiple screening steps, introduction of related equipment, and the washing process is not static - it adapts to local conditions and is continuously updated and improved.

In Ethiopia, the introduction of washed processing can be traced back to the 1970s. At that time, it was the washed processing method that significantly improved the quality of Ethiopian coffee, allowing its elegant citrus aroma and broad flavor profile to stand out and impress the world.

However, compared to other processing methods, washed processing remains one of the methods with minimal intervention in coffee flavor. Unlike many special processing methods that add fermented alcoholic aromas through more unique fermentation techniques, the washed method, besides appropriately increasing the coffee's acidic aroma, relies on the inherent qualities of the coffee beans themselves for all other flavor characteristics.

Ethiopian Washed Champion "Hero": Delicate Lemon, Apricot, and Peach Notes, The True Taste of Ethiopian Terroir

A good washed coffee is essentially a faithful record of the regional terroir, capturing all the wonderful flavors that coffee can offer. The washed "Hero" comes from the Guji region of Ethiopia, separated by just one mountain from the renowned Yirgacheffe, and it defeated Yirgacheffe in this year's competition.

The "Hero" grows at an altitude of 2,150 meters. In coffee cultivation, farmers intercrop legume plants in the production areas, using them as natural compost materials to ensure organic cultivation of coffee trees. Such growing conditions allow coffee cherries to accumulate rich acidity and fruit flavors.

Knowledge Point: Arabica coffee was likely first discovered in southern Sudan, but it wasn't until it spread to Ethiopia that it gradually flourished.

In Summary

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