Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Coffee - Introduction to Yirgacheffe Red Honey Process Red Cherry

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FrontStreet Coffee - Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Red Honey Process Introduction

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Red Honey Process

Region: Yirgacheffe, Idido

Altitude: 2000-2200m

Processing Method: Red Honey Process

Variety: Local Heirloom

Grade: G1

Origin Introduction

Ethiopia is located on the eastern side of the African continent. The "Gedeo zone" where Yirgacheffe belongs is located in Ethiopia's southwestern "Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region."

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia with an altitude of 1700-2100 meters, making it one of the highest altitude coffee producing regions in the world and synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee. Lakes Turkana, Abaya, and Chamo bring abundant water vapor to this area.

IDIDO Cooperative

IDIDO Cooperative was established in the late 1970s, located east of the Ethiopian town of Yirgacheffe. It joined the Yirgacheffe Farmers Cooperative in 2002. IDIDO is also the name of the village where the cooperative's centralized processing plant is located, working with growers from eight surrounding kebeles (villages).

The cooperative has over 1,000 members scattered across various communities in Wegida, Aricha, Direto, Ela Tenecha, Bowicha, Haro Badami, and Gerse, working with growers from nearby communities to prepare single community lots and special processing. Coffee is handpicked by farmers and their families, then sent to the factory for post-processing.

What is the "Red Cherry Project"?

The "Red Cherry Project" (ORC) is a project aimed at improving the quality of small-scale farms. In 2007, Trabocca, the largest green coffee bean importer in the Netherlands, proposed the "Red Cherry Project" in pursuit of high-quality Ethiopian beans.

The project requires that coffee cherry harvesting must not only pick fully red fruits but also be done entirely by hand. However, this is just the most basic requirement—the project is far more complex. The main purpose is to encourage bean farmers and bring surprises to roasters. Before the harvest season, Trabocca, the largest coffee bean importer in the Netherlands, invites all Ethiopian farms to produce small batches of about 1500-3000 kilograms (25-50 bags) of beans. Women can only select fully 100% mature red cherries, which makes a significant difference in the flavor of the brewed coffee. Therefore, careful, good-eyed, and hardworking Ethiopian women are important drivers of the Red Cherry Project.

The Red Cherry Project is also an enhancement method that makes farms invest more thought in the screening and bean selection process. These coffees are also relatively higher in price. The Red Cherry Project includes washed, sun-dried, semi-washed, semi-sun-dried, and experimental coffees. The main producing regions include Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Bonga Forest, Lekempti, Kembata, Illubabor, Harar, Limu, and in 2011, the Golocha region (near Harar) was added. All these areas have unique flavors that can fully showcase the taste of Ethiopian coffee. After receiving the coffee, Trabocca makes further selections, and farms that meet the standards through cupping quality tests in both Ethiopian and Dutch offices receive high bonuses. The promoter of the Red Cherry Project, Trabocca, invests all the profits earned in recent years into the cooperative farms.

Processing Method

The processing method for this bean is red honey process.

So-called honey processing refers to the production process of drying green beans with mucilage. After removing the outer pulp from the coffee beans, there is a layer of viscous gelatinous substance. Traditional washed processing would wash it away with clean water, but due to water resource limitations in some high-altitude areas, this direct drying method was developed.

The mucilage part is the highest sugar content part of the coffee fruit and an important component of coffee processing fermentation. It can be said that this part determines 80% of the nutrient supply during the processing. Yellow honey retains 60% of the mucilage, red honey retains 75% of the mucilage, and black honey hardly removes any mucilage.

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