Are Coffee Bean Auction Batches the Same as Regular Batches? Ethiopia Cup of Excellence Same Batch Coffee Beans

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In 2020, FrontStreet Coffee successfully bid for the 22nd place Ethiopian Cup of Excellence (COE) competition - a natural processed Typica coffee bean from the Arsi region (link to COE22). Compared to the Ethiopian heirloom variety coffee beans from the same Arsi region, this 22nd place Typica captured the hearts of coffee enthusiasts with its clean, soft juicy acidity and the quality sweetness from mature coffee berries.

Recently, through a coffee enthusiast's sharing, FrontStreet Coffee had the opportunity to taste the 26th place coffee bean from this Ethiopian COE competition bidding batch. Its matcha-like aroma lingered in the mouth for a long time, which surprised all colleagues at FrontStreet Coffee, as finding a coffee bean with such distinct characteristics among Ethiopian coffees is truly rare.

However, when FrontStreet Coffee tasted this coffee bean, it was already mid-December, while the competition bean auction was held in late June. Finding the 26th place green coffee beans from the bidding batch in December was virtually impossible, as the quantity of competition batch coffee beans is limited. So FrontStreet Coffee, with a "let's give it a try" mentality, purchased a coffee bean from the same batch as COE26, hoping to experience the surprising matcha aroma that had impressed FrontStreet Coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee - Ethiopian COE26 Same Batch Coffee Beans

Region: Yirgacheffe, Worka

Altitude: 1500-2100m

Variety: Ethiopian Heirloom

Processing: Washed

What are bidding batch coffee beans?

All coffee beans participating in the COE competition are reclassified, numbered, roasted, and then cupped. During cupping, judges only see the coffee's number, not specific information about the bean's region or estate. The entire COE competition is divided into 3 stages: Pre-selection, National jury, and International jury.

In the pre-selection stage, only coffee beans with cupping scores of 85 points or above qualify for the national competition stage. In this pre-selection, 1,459 beans participated, and after the first round of cupping screening, 150 coffee beans were selected for the national competition stage. The second national competition stage consists of two rounds of cupping: the first round retains 90 coffee beans scoring 85 points or above from the preliminary 150 for the second round of cupping. The second round selects 40 coffee beans scoring 85 points or above from these 90 beans to enter the international competition stage. In the international competition stage, the competition consists of 3 rounds: preliminary, secondary selection, and top ten evaluation. The green beans are renumbered and then roasted, and judges still have no knowledge of specific estate information about any coffee bean during cupping - only when the final competition results are announced do they learn the specific details.

All award-winning coffee beans must be obtained through auction, and FrontStreet Coffee's COE22 coffee beans were also acquired at the auction on June 25th. So what is the COE26 same batch that FrontStreet Coffee purchased?

What are same batch coffee beans?

In other words, same batch coffee beans are simply "neighbors" to the bidding batch coffee beans, and might not even be neighbors... If they are "neighbors," same batch coffee beans share the same coffee variety, same coffee region, same harvest season, and same green bean processing method as the bidding batch coffee beans. However, one point to note is that "the same rice can feed a hundred different people." Although in the same region, the area is not small, and there will still be altitude differences, so factors like altitude height, microclimate, and soil changes all affect the formation of coffee flavor. Does this mean that same batch beans will definitely taste different from the bidding batch? Not necessarily, but the probability is high. That's why FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above that we purchased the COE26 same batch with a "let's give it a try" mentality.

Yirgacheffe · Worka

Yirgacheffe is located in the Gedeo region of southern Ethiopia. This area governs the relatively well-known Yirgacheffe and Kochere regions, with altitudes between 1700-2100m, making it one of the highest altitude coffee growing regions in the world. Worka is located in a remote area within the Yirgacheffe region, where coffee beans grown here are uniformly handed over to the Worka Cooperative for processing and export.

Washed Processing Method

The washed processing method is the most common green bean processing method in the Yirgacheffe region. Selected coffee berries are placed in a depulper to initially remove their skin and pulp. The coffee beans with remaining pulp and mucilage are placed in water to ferment. After fermentation, the coffee beans with parchment are placed in flowing water channels for washing, removing pulp and mucilage through friction between coffee beans. After washing, the coffee beans are dried until moisture content reaches about 12%, and finally the parchment is removed from the coffee beans.

Coffee Bean Variety

This coffee bean uses Ethiopian heirloom varieties. The coffee varieties in the Ethiopian region are numerous and complex, making detailed classification extremely difficult. Additionally, some varieties need to remain "anonymous" for variety research, so coffee trees are generally mixed planted and mixed harvested. This is also why Ethiopian heirloom variety coffee beans vary in size.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Experience

New season beans have higher moisture content, so FrontStreet Coffee's roaster extends the dehydration time to ensure even heating between the bean surface and core. To express the sweetness, acidity, and floral and fruity aromas of this bean, we used a light roast level.

Enter the drum at 155°C, heat at 110, damper opened to 3; Return point at 1'28", when drum temperature reaches 100.2°C, heat unchanged; At 3 minutes, damper adjusted to 4, at 4 minutes increase heat to 140. When drum temperature reaches 153°C, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering dehydration stage. At 8'00", the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack, which begins at 9'07". After first crack, develop for 1'00" seconds, drop at 192°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Report

Dry Aroma: Lemon

Wet Aroma: White floral aroma

Flavor: Lemon, jasmine, berries, cream, green tea, honey

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Experience

FrontStreet Coffee discovered through cupping that this coffee bean has rich floral and fruity aromas, so we use a V60 dripper. The spiral rib design of the V60 dripper not only extends the contact time between coffee grounds and water but also allows the water level to concentrate toward the center point of the dripper along the spiral grooves as it descends. The gravity of the water flow creates pressure on the coffee grounds, forming a higher sense of layers.

Water Temperature: 90°C

Dose: 15g

Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Medium-fine (78% pass-through rate on #20 sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee Step-by-step Extraction Method:

First, use 30g of water to fully wet the coffee grounds into a "hamburger" shape for 30s bloom; The second pour at timer 1'00" injects water to 125g, then wait for the water level to drop to 2/3 of the coffee bed before the third pour; The third pour at timer 1'40" injects water to 225g, waiting for complete coffee drip, with total extraction time of 1'59". After coffee extraction is complete, gently shake to allow the coffee liquid to fully mix before tasting.

Brewing Flavor:

The entry is bright lemon acidity and jasmine flower aroma. As it cools, berry sweetness and juice sensation emerge. The aftertaste is honey green tea.

After brewing, this coffee bean's flavor is similar to the Yirgacheffe Gedeb Cooperative coffee beans that FrontStreet Coffee carries, lacking the matcha aroma of the competition batch COE26. Although it has the distinctive Yirgacheffe regional flavor characteristics, there's nothing particularly memorable about this bean, so FrontStreet Coffee ultimately decided not to carry this coffee bean.

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