Ethiopian Coffee · Premium Growing Regions Introduction - Yirgacheffe 01

Ethiopian Coffee - Premium Growing Regions Introduction: Yirgacheffe

Altitude: 1800-2000 meters

Garden coffee system

Yirgacheffe is one of Ethiopia's three official growing regions, lying just east of the East African Rift Valley. The terrain is complex and fragmented, bordering Lake Abaya to the west. Since ancient times it has been a wetland with abundant water, flourishing birdlife and fragrant flowers. The name Yirgacheffe carries the sense of "let us settle here in this wetland and make a living."

Yirgacheffe sits within the Sidamo region, but was established independently because of its distinctive flavor profile. Beyond the town of Yirgacheffe itself, it also covers three sub-regions: Wenago, Kochere, and Gelena/Abaya.

In November 2009, Ethiopia introduced a new trading and grading system that classifies washed and sun-dried premium Yirgacheffe coffees into Group A, those with Yirgacheffe flavor, and Group B, those without, with each group spanning the three regions named above. Under the new system, Yirgacheffe A, Wenago A, Kochere A and Gelena/Abaya A all command higher prices than their Group B counterparts. Alongside washed and sun-dried processing, semi-washed Yirgacheffe has recently appeared and is worth trying.

(Image credit: National Geographic China | Photography: AMI VITALE, PANOS)

The Yirgacheffe coffees we encounter are numerous enough that, to put it dramatically, Ethiopian coffee can be divided into ten parts and Yirgacheffe accounts for eight of them. So what are Konga, Biloya, Aricha and the other names within the Yirgacheffe region? That brings us to the YCFCU, the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union. The YCFCU comprises 26 cooperatives, and the Yirgacheffe coffees we drink most often can usually be traced back to one of them.

A cooperative roughly represents a collective of small farmers from a single village, and the cooperative's name is nearly identical to the village's name. Some villages have no cooperative, and some small farmers sell their coffee under their own names rather than joining one. There are also several renowned processing stations in the Yirgacheffe region, among them the Aricha and Chelba processing stations.

Yirgacheffe is a well-known growing region, and when you come across a producer from the area, a quick search is usually enough to work out whether that producer is a cooperative, a small farmer or a processing station.

About FrontStreet Coffee

The information above has been compiled by FrontStreet Coffee.

We hope this article helps you gain a deeper understanding of coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Understanding Yirgacheffe's sub-regions makes it far easier to choose a coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee's lineup covers the range. The everyday washed Yirgacheffe is the classic reference point: white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a clean, tea-like body, priced so that anyone can make it a daily cup. Yirgacheffe sits at roughly 1,700 to 2,100 meters, with the trees planted above 1,800 meters, which is part of why its aromatics are so pronounced.

To taste a single cooperative rather than the region as a whole, the FrontStreet washed Gedeb cooperative coffee comes from the Worka area at Yirgacheffe's southeastern edge. It began as part of the larger Worka cooperative under the YCFCU, the very union of 26 cooperatives described above, before becoming a separately traceable lot as demand for origin transparency grew. Its traditional washed process leaves no bitterness, only fresh citrus and lemon acidity with jasmine fragrance. If you want to compare washed against natural from the same region, the FrontStreet natural Red Cherry is made only from fully ripe, unblemished fruit, dried whole on raised beds for three to five weeks and turned every two to three hours early on to keep fermentation even. Expect citrus acidity, a juicy berry body, honeyed sweetness and a creamy texture. Working through those three side by side is the fastest way to understand what Yirgacheffe really means.