Is Yirgacheffe Dumerso a Cooperative? Introduction to Dumerso Coffee Bean Flavor

FrontStreet Coffee - Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Dumerso

The Dumerso wet and dry processing plant and its smallholder cooperative members sit in the Yirgacheffe coffee growing region at roughly 1,759-2,300 meters above sea level. It is run jointly by Surafel Birhanu and his family, and it was one of the founding members when YCFCU was established in 2002. Today it counts 246 small farmers as partners.

Surafel provides technical guidance to the smallholders. Ripe cherries are hand-picked by individual smallholder families and then delivered to the Dumerso processing plant for 24-36 hours of fermentation in washing tanks. After washing comes preliminary grading, followed by drying on African raised beds for more than 10 days. Throughout that period the cherries are turned regularly to remove defects, which keeps flavor and quality stable from batch to batch.

Ethiopia Natural Yirgacheffe Dumerso

Ethiopia Natural Yirgacheffe G1

Sweet-and-sour golden sugar and lemon, with rich aromas of rose and bergamot. On the first sip you taste intense, varied flavors as rose and jasmine bloom one after another, and the charming bergamot aroma lingers in the mouth. The overall flavor is intense, rich, and captivating.

Coffee Details

Product Name: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Dumerso

Processing Method: Natural

Altitude: 1,800-2,100m

Variety: Heirloom

Processing Plant: Dumerso Processing Plant

Flavor Notes: Golden sugar, rose, bergamot, jasmine

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Dumerso is a natural Yirgacheffe, so if you enjoy its rose, bergamot, and golden-sugar profile, tasting it alongside a washed Yirgacheffe is the clearest way to understand what processing does to the cup. FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is the classic introduction to the origin: white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like body. Yirgacheffe is a small town in the Sidama zone of southern Ethiopia at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters, with the coffee trees planted above 1,800 meters. The town was originally a wetland, and its recognizable white florals and lemon-citrus acidity turned "Yirgacheffe" into a byword for Ethiopian specialty coffee - so much so that in 2010, because the name had become so famous, the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange separated it from the Sidama region.

For a "single origin" within Yirgacheffe itself, FrontStreet Coffee's Gedeb cooperative coffee is worth trying. Gedeb lies in the Worka region at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe and was originally part of the Worka cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union; as demand for traceability grew, it was identified as its own single origin. It follows the most traditional washed process, and the result carries no bitterness, with fresh, bright citrus and lemon acidity and a jasmine fragrance.

When brewing a coffee this delicate, FrontStreet Coffee suggests a V60 with water at 90-91°C, 15g of coffee, and a 1:15 ratio, ground to a fine-sugar consistency (EK43s setting 10, or about 80% passing a #20 sieve). Start with a 30g pour and a 30-second bloom, then add 95g more (the scale reaching about 125g) and finish that pour at about 1 minute. When the water drops to two-thirds of the bed, add the remaining 100g (the scale reaching about 225g) and finish at about 1 minute 35 seconds. Drawdown completes between 2:00 and 2:10; remove the dripper and the brew is done.