Fruity Coffee Bean Recommendation: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Washed with Fresh Lemon and Honey Notes

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Washed Aricha G1: A Fruity Bean Worth Seeking Out

Basic Information

Producer: Smallholder farmers surrounding the Kebel Aricha processing station

Region: Yirgacheffe (Gedeo, Ethiopia)

Altitude: 1,950-2,100 m

Processing: Washed, then sun-dried

Variety: Local heirloom varieties

Flavor notes: Lemon, honey, floral, tea-like

Origin Background

This lot comes from the Kebel Aricha coffee mill, named after the small town where it stands. Smallholder farmers from the surrounding hills deliver their ripe cherries to the station, where the fruit is hand-sorted, pulped and then fermented for 36 to 48 hours. Once the washing is finished, the parchment coffee is spread in thin layers across raised drying beds and left in the sun until its moisture content drops to 11.5%.

For the first few days the drying piles are turned every two to three hours to guard against over-fermentation and mould. Drying usually takes 10 to 12 days, depending on the weather. When it is done, the parchment is trucked to Addis Ababa, where it is hulled and packed for export.

The result is a washed Yirgacheffe in its most classic form: a fresh, lifted lemon acidity wrapped in honey sweetness, with soft florals and a clean, tea-like finish.

About FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research workshop built around one simple idea: share everything we know about coffee, freely and without reservation, so that more people can fall in love with it. We also run three heavily discounted coffee promotions every month, because we believe great coffee should be within reach of everyone. That has been our mission for the past six years.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this washed Aricha whets your appetite for Yirgacheffe, the obvious starting point is FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe everyday bean. It is the cup that introduces most drinkers to the region: white jasmine on the nose, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a clean, tea-like body, all at a price that makes it an easy daily drinker.

For something with a little more character, look to FrontStreet's Washed Gedingding Cooperative coffee, grown in the Woka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe. Processed in the traditional washed style, it shows the same jasmine perfume and vivid lemon-citrus acidity, yet stays delicate and precise. FrontStreet brews it on a V60 with 15 g of coffee to 225 g of water (a 1:15 ratio), 90-91C water and a medium grind, so the florals and the citrus come through cleanly.