Characteristics of Brazilian and Ethiopian Coffee Growing Regions: Flavor Profile and Taste Description of Yirgacheffe Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Yirgacheffe Coffee

For anyone who loves specialty coffee, and African coffee in particular, the name Yirgacheffe needs no introduction. It sounds almost poetic, like a place out of a fairy tale, and the coffee grown there lives up to the name: bright floral and fruity acidity, elegant and unmistakable aromas, and a flavor that has won over drinkers around the world.

Yirgacheffe is a specialty coffee region in Ethiopia, sitting at an altitude of around 2,000 meters. That makes it genuinely high-grown and one of the highest specialty coffee regions in the country. The name is beautiful, but the flavor is even more distinctive.

The region receives abundant rainfall, benefits from high-altitude cultivation, and rests on fertile soil under a cool, comfortable climate - a near-perfect setting for growing coffee of exceptional flavor. Yirgacheffe coffees tend to show very delicate floral aromas, subtle and clear, alongside charming citrus and lemon-like fruit notes.

Most coffee from this region comes from wild native varieties, which gives it a complex, layered flavor. The area also holds many coffee estates, so lots from different estates each carry their own character. Washed processing is the primary method, with a small amount of natural processing. Washed Yirgacheffe brings jasmine, berry and lemon aromas, a clean, bright mouthfeel, and clear, lively acidity.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To get to know Ethiopia, start with the classic: FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe, the everyday bean that introduces the region to most drinkers. It is known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a clean, tea-like body, and its modest price has made it the first specialty coffee for a great many people. The Yirgacheffe district lies in southern Ethiopia's Sidama zone, with the town at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters and the coffee trees planted above 1,800 meters, placing it among the highest growing regions on earth. The name comes from an ancient local phrase, and in 2010 the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange separated Yirgacheffe from Sidama as an origin of its own.

FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is brewed with a V60 dripper, water at 90-91 degrees Celsius, 15g of coffee, and a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, with the grind set to EK43s setting 10, about the texture of caster sugar and fine enough that 80% passes a #20 sieve. For the pour, bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, then pour to about 125g (the first 95g goes in over roughly one minute), and once the water level drops to two-thirds of the coffee bed, add the remaining 100g to reach about 225g; the drawdown finishes in about 2:00-2:10.