Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Pour-Over: How to Brew Natural & Red Honey Process Red Cherry Project Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Series

At FrontStreet Coffee, the FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe from Ethiopia has always been a beloved choice among coffee enthusiasts on our extensive menu. On the Ethiopia coffee region menu, the FrontStreet Coffee Red Honey Red Cherry and FrontStreet Coffee Natural Red Cherry stand out prominently in the first and second positions. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will explain what Red Cherry is and the flavor differences between FrontStreet Coffee Red Cherry coffees processed using different methods.

Yirgacheffe

Yirga is located in the Sidamo province of Ethiopia, on a plateau at an altitude of 2,000 meters. It is one of Ethiopia's highest altitude coffee growing regions. The coffee produced here is called Yirgacheffe. "Yirga" means to settle down, and "cheffe" means "wetland," so its original meaning is "let us settle and thrive in this wetland." This town is located on the eastern side of the East African Rift Valley.

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

The Red Cherry Project is also an enhancement approach that encourages farms to invest more effort in the process of screening and selecting beans. These coffees are relatively more expensive. The Red Cherry Project includes washed, natural, semi-washed, semi-natural, and experimental coffees. The main producing regions include Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Bonga Forest, Lekempti, Kembata, Illubabor, Harar, Limu, and in 2011, the Golocha production area (near Harar) was added. All these areas produce coffees with unique flavors that fully showcase the characteristics of Ethiopian coffee. After receiving the coffee, Trabocca conducts further selection. Farms that pass cupping quality tests conducted by offices in both Ethiopia and the Netherlands receive substantial bonuses. Trabocca, the promoter of the Red Cherry Project, has invested all profits earned in recent years back into the cooperative farms.

What is Natural Processing and What is Red Honey Processing?

FrontStreet Coffee Natural Yirgacheffe has strict harvesting standards. The harvested fruits are manually screened to remove unripe green fruits or defective fruits before sun-drying. During the natural process, damaged or moldy fruits are removed again. After two weeks, when the fruit's sugar and essence have fully penetrated the coffee beans and the moisture content drops to 12%, the hardened fruit pulp, mucilage layer, and parchment are scraped off with a hulling machine. The extracted coffee beans must also undergo density and color testing to eliminate defective beans. Workers then manually remove any defective beans that may have been missed, ensuring multiple layers of screening. Therefore, the resulting coffee beans are all premium quality, guaranteeing their clean, refined characteristics with rich, captivating fruit aroma.

Honey processing refers to the production process of drying green beans with mucilage intact. After removing the outer fruit pulp from coffee beans, there remains a layer of sticky, gelatinous substance. Traditional washed processing would use clean water to wash it away, but due to water resource limitations in some high-altitude regions, this direct drying method was developed. The mucilage is the part of the coffee fruit with the highest sugar content and is an important component of fermentation during coffee processing. 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 retains almost all the mucilage.

Representative Coffee Beans - FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry & FrontStreet Coffee Red Honey Red Cherry

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Red Honey Red Cherry

Region: Yirgacheffe Idido

Altitude: 2000-2200m

Processing Method: Red Honey Processing

Variety: Local Heirloom Varieties

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Natural Red Cherry

Region: Yirgacheffe Aletaland Estate

Altitude: 1700-2200m

Processing Method: Natural Processing

Variety: Ethiopia Heirloom Varieties

Roasting Suggestions & Brewing Temperature

When FrontStreet Coffee roasts these two FrontStreet Coffee Red Cherry coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters use a medium-light roast to preserve more of the citrus and berry acidity characteristics of the FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe region, as well as to better express the fermentation notes of natural processing and the sweetness of red honey processing. For brewing medium-light roast beans, FrontStreet Coffee recommends a temperature of 90-91°C. Higher water temperature can extract aromatic substances and acidity (fruit and floral aromas, fruit acidity) from light roast beans. Because medium-light roast beans have a harder density, increasing the water temperature can improve extraction efficiency of the coffee grounds, avoiding unpleasant flavors such as sharp acidity.

How FrontStreet Coffee Brews Two FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Coffees

When brewing Yirgacheffe region beans, FrontStreet Coffee uses the Hario V60 dripper. The V60 conical dripper has a wide opening, and its unique spiral rib design allows air to be discharged more easily, thereby improving extraction quality. The body might not be as full, but its high concentration of sweet and sour flavors with distinct aromas is its major characteristic.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters:

Water Temperature: 90-91°C

Coffee Dose: 15g

Grind Size: Fine sugar grind size

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Method: First pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour 95g (scale shows about 125g), completing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows about 225g), completing in about 1 minute 40 seconds. The drip finishes at 1 minute 55 seconds. Remove the dripper to complete extraction.

FrontStreet Coffee Natural Red Cherry Brewing Flavor: Lemon, licorice, citrus, berries, sweet orange, with overall high sweetness. The aftertaste has caramel and cream flavors, with a black tea aroma in the finish.

FrontStreet Coffee Red Honey Red Cherry Brewing Flavor: Aroma of ginger flower, with citrus, lemon, and fruit candy flavors in the mouth. The mid-section has cedar notes and honey sweetness, while the finish has oolong tea sensations with a long-lasting creamy aftertaste.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473