Yirgacheffe Coffee Beans: Is Yirgacheffe a Coffee Bean? Yirgacheffe Coffee Processing Methods

FrontStreet Coffee - Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Anaerobic Natural Garse

Garse is a processing station under Ethiopia's DWD company. For green-bean processing it uses anaerobic fermentation. Anaerobic fermentation places the coffee beans in an oxygen-free environment, which slows the decomposition of sugars in the coffee's pectin and the rate at which pH falls, allowing the beans to retain higher sweetness.

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Anaerobic Natural Garse

Region: Yirgacheffe

Processing Station: Garse

Variety: HEIRLOOM

Altitude: 2050M

Processing Method: Anaerobic Natural Processing

Flavor: Red Wine Chocolate, Apricot Peach, Cherry

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Yirgacheffe is a small town in southern Ethiopia's Sidamo region, at an altitude of about 1700-2100 meters, and it has become a byword for Ethiopian specialty coffee. The area is a natural wetland, and its name means "settle down and make a living here." The coffee trees are planted above 1800 meters, making it one of the highest coffee regions in the world. Because it is so highly regarded, Ethiopia's commodity exchange separated Yirgacheffe from the Sidamo region in 2010, which is how the name became so well known.

For a classic first step into the region, FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe is the everyday choice, known for white jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like finish. It is also a very affordable entry into specialty coffee. Yirgacheffe can be divided into many smaller areas and villages, and some of them are home to experienced cooperatives with mature processing methods. The most representative is FrontStreet's washed Gedeb cooperative: it began as part of the Worka cooperative under the Yirgacheffe union, and as demand for traceability grew it was separated out as a single origin. It follows the traditional washed method and is known as one of the last clean corners of Yirgacheffe, with clean, bright citrus and lemon acidity and jasmine fragrance rather than the traditional bitter tone.

Brew these as a pour-over with a V60 dripper at 90-91°C, using 15g of coffee and a 1:15 ratio, and set the grind to EK43s setting 10, or a fine-sugar size that passes 80% through a #20 sieve. Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, pour to about 125g over roughly one minute, then, when the water level falls to two-thirds of the coffee bed, add the remaining 100g to reach about 225g. The drawdown finishes in 2:00-2:10.