How to Brew Natural Aricha - Yirgacheffe Aricha Natural G1 with Rich Fruity Aroma

FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Aricha Natural G1 Introduction

This batch of FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Aricha has been rated G1 - the highest grade by ECX. From the look, uniformity, and freshness of the green beans to the dry aroma and flavor, everything is outstanding. (We'll cover ECX in detail in another article.)

Variety: Ethiopian Indigenous

This natural-processed Yirgacheffe Aricha comes specifically from Ethiopia's ancient heirloom varieties, produced at the Kebel Aricha processing station - hence the name Aricha. Some 650-700 smallholder farmers nearby bring their ripe cherries to the station for processing in exchange for cash. After the station screens out usable cherries, they go straight onto racks for sun drying, and during the first few days they are turned every 2-3 hours to prevent over-fermentation.

After 4-6 weeks of natural processing, workers mechanically remove the outer pulp depending on weather and temperature, then the beans are transported to Addis Ababa for storage. Natural beans are usually held in parchment form and hulled just before export to protect the quality of the green beans.

Product Details

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Aricha Natural G1

Region: Yirgacheffe

Processing Station: Aricha

Altitude: 1700-2100 meters

Variety: Ethiopian Indigenous

Processing Method: Natural

Flavor: Cream, Strawberry, Raisin, Tropical Fruits

Pour-over Parameters:

V60 dripper, water temperature 91°C, grind size BG-6S, segmented pouring. Bloom with 30g of water for 40 seconds - timing starts when the first pour begins. Second pour to 125g, stopping just before the water level exposes the coffee bed. Third pour to 225g, then wait for the coffee to finish dripping and remove the dripper. Total extraction time: 2 minutes.

In Summary

FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee research hall, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation, hoping more friends will fall in love with coffee. Every month we hold three coffee promotions with generous discounts because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest price. That has been our mission for the past 6 years!

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Aricha is one of Yirgacheffe's most celebrated micro-origins, and this washed classic is a wonderful place to start with the region. Yirgacheffe is a small town within Sidamo province in southern Ethiopia, sitting at roughly 1700-2100 meters with most coffee grown above 1800 meters - among the highest coffee altitudes in the world. The town was long a wetland, and its unmistakable white floral character and lemon-citrus acidity have made the name Yirgacheffe a byword for Ethiopian specialty coffee; so famous had it become by 2010 that the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange formally separated it from Sidamo. FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe daily bean is an affordable introduction, showing white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like finish.

For natural lots like Aricha, FrontStreet's Yirgacheffe Red Cherry applies the same careful sun-drying: only fully ripe, defect-free cherries are harvested, screened again at the station, and laid on raised beds, turned every 2-3 hours during the first days to prevent uneven heating and over-fermentation, then dried for three to five weeks before the pulp is stripped and the beans move to warehouse storage. Expect typical Yirgacheffe character enriched by the dried fruit: citrus-like acidity, berry juiciness, honeyed sweetness, and creamy smoothness. Brew either one the FrontStreet way: V60, 90-91°C water, 15g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio, ground to a fine-sugar texture (80% passing a #20 sieve) - bloom 30g for 30 seconds, pour to about 125g, then finish to about 225g, with the drawdown completing around 2 minutes to 2 minutes 10 seconds.