Washed Yirgacheffe Coffee Flavor: Hand-Drip Brewing Characteristics and Profile

Many customers who purchase FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans at our stores are drawn to the captivating flavor descriptions of our washed Yirgacheffe: jasmine, citrus, lemon, and berries, evoking images of fresh and elegant taste. So how should one brew these distinctive floral and fruity notes to achieve the best flavor?

Characteristics of FrontStreet Coffee's Washed Yirgacheffe

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe comes from the famous Ethiopian growing region. The exceptional altitude of 2,000 meters creates significant temperature variations, providing coffee trees with an ideal growing environment that produces aromatic coffee. However, due to underdeveloped local water resources, people mostly used ancient natural processing methods—simply drying the beans directly in sunlight. Due to the crude techniques, coffee quality was generally low. It wasn't until the government introduced washing equipment and technology that the quality of FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe was further enhanced.

Unlike other growing regions, Yirgacheffe is a wetland area, making it particularly suitable for washed processing. The multiple steps in the washing process eliminate defective beans, significantly reducing the defect rate and resulting in cleaner coffee with clearer, more transparent inherent aromas. This approach also amplifies the citrus and lemon notes in FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe beans, creating a fresher, brighter taste profile.

Due to the small size of FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe beans, deep roasting can easily cause uneven heating or even scorching. Therefore, roasters tend to use medium or light roasts. Surprisingly, they discovered that lightly roasted Yirgacheffe not only presents bright acidity but also offers highly distinctive fruit flavors, essentially ushering in "a new era of fruity acidic coffee." This preference for sweetness over bitterness恰好 aligns with大众口味, which explains why Yirgacheffe is so popular worldwide. FrontStreet Coffee wants everyone to experience the classic Yirgacheffe taste, so we use medium-light roasting.

Pour-over Parameters for FrontStreet Coffee's Washed Yirgacheffe

Before brewing, we first need to prepare the following equipment: pour-over kettle, filter cup, server, grinder, filter paper, electronic scale, thermometer, and a bag of FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe daily beans within their optimal flavor period.

The grinder plays a crucial role in pour-over brewing. The coarseness and uniformity of coffee grounds directly affect the taste of a cup of pour-over coffee. Grinders on the market are generally divided into manual and electric types. FrontStreet Coffee stores use the EK43s grinder. If coffee grounds are too coarse, extraction tends to be insufficient, resulting in a weak taste. If too fine, over-extraction occurs, creating a bitter flavor. FrontStreet Coffee uses a specific tool to adjust grind size—a China #20 0.85mm standard sieve. For medium-light roasted beans, FrontStreet Coffee consistently maintains a 75-80% sieve pass rate, while for medium-dark roasted beans, we use 70-75%. FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe is a medium-light roasted, high-altitude coffee bean. To extract more rich aromatic substances, we select a grind size with an 80% pass rate through the #20 standard sieve. The store uses an EK43s grinder setting of 10.

Water temperature plays a similar role to grind size. Higher water temperatures increase coffee extraction efficiency, making it easier to release various flavor compounds and resulting in higher concentration. If brewed with near-boiling hot water, it's easy to extract unpleasant bitter substances. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using 87-90°C for medium-dark roasted coffee beans, while lightly roasted coffee requires higher temperatures to stimulate aromas, thus using 91-93°C. Note that the water temperature mentioned here refers to the temperature of the water flow when it reaches the coffee grounds. If room temperature is low, water temperature drops quickly, so we can appropriately increase it by 1-2°C to ensure proper coffee extraction temperature.

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) stores typically use two resin filter cups: Hario V60 and KONO. The V60 filter cup is primarily responsible for brewing lighter roasted coffee beans, while the KONO filter cup handles darker roasted beans. The V60 filter cup features flow ribs connecting the top and bottom and a large circular hole at the center, which accelerates water flow. The spiral-shaped exhaust groove design extends the water flow path, increasing contact time between coffee grounds and hot water. Each water stream converges along the grooves toward the filter cup's center point, concentrating pressure on the coffee grounds and extracting coffee with richer layers. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee prioritizes using the V60 to brew medium-light roasted, flavor-profile FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe coffee.

Pour-over Technique Sharing

Based on previous brewing experience, FrontStreet Coffee recommends beginners use the three-stage pouring method—after bloom, divide the water into two additional pours. Three-stage extraction allows sufficient time for water to rinse through the coffee grounds, more fully dissolving flavor compounds and enhancing taste layers, while avoiding over-extraction from prolonged soaking. For 15 grams of coffee grounds with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio (225ml total water), the three stages are divided into: 30ml, 95ml, and 100ml, with the electronic scale showing: 30g, 125g, and 225g respectively.

First, place the folded filter paper in the filter cup and wet it to fit better with the cup. Prepare hot water and a measuring thermometer, and simultaneously pour 15 grams of ground coffee into the filter cup, zeroing the electronic scale.

For the first stage, pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Start timing while pouring, using a small water stream from the center point outward in circular motions, ensuring the entire coffee bed is moistened.

After 30 seconds, begin steadily pouring the second stage of 95g water with a slightly larger stream, aiming to raise the entire coffee bed. The water stream needs to be poured vertically and evenly. At this point, the scale should show 125g, and pouring should complete around 55 seconds.

When the water level drops to about halfway, begin pouring the third stage of 100g water using a small stream in small circular motions. Try to control the water stream to avoid too wide circles, which can scatter the coffee grounds and cause under-extraction. The total water poured should reach 225g, with completion time around 2 minutes. After removing the filter cup, shake the coffee in the server to ensure even distribution, and it's ready to taste.

The coffee-to-water ratio for pour-over coffee, water amount for each stage, and pouring technique are not fixed. We can adjust up or down based on accumulated pour-over experience and understanding of the coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee views coffee brewing as a scientifically grounded experiment. To master pour-over brewing, we need to deeply understand the true meaning of each brewing parameter. This way, we can easily find experimental methods and establish a brewing framework that suits ourselves.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473