Ethiopian Coffee Varieties Introduction: Ethiopian Heirloom and 74/75 Coffee Varieties

Coffee Production Methods in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, coffee cultivation and production are primarily divided into three categories. The first category is wild forest coffee, where wild coffee trees mostly grow in the southwestern regions of Ethiopia. The coffee trees themselves are composed of multiple mixed varieties, so their reproductive capacity and yield are generally inferior to other high-quality varieties that have been artificially selected.

For example, the Kaffa Forest on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list is sourced from this forest cultivation model. Whenever coffee cherries ripen, nearby farmers set out to pick them and then send them to nearby processing plants for washed or natural processing. FrontStreet Coffee has introduced the more stable washed batch this time, preserving more floral aromas and fruit acidity through light-medium roasting.

The second type is garden-style cultivation, basically planted beside farmers' homes, with each household having several hundred coffee plants. The fruits are picked when ripe, which is also the cultivation model that the vast majority of small coffee farmers rely on for their livelihood. These coffee trees may have been left by the previous owner of the land, shared among neighbors, or possibly cultivated from seeds from another producing region.

The third type consists of large coffee farms or estates, which not only possess vast planting land but also maintain detailed records of the coffee varieties cultivated. They adopt standardized agricultural practices in management, with the most famous being Gesha Village Estate.

Understanding Heirloom Varieties

Many Ethiopian coffees sold on the market come from cooperative unions, which collect coffee berries harvested by coffee farmers in a region for unified processing and sale. According to estimates, Ethiopia now has between 10,000 to 15,000 coffee varieties, most of which have not undergone formal genetic identification. Therefore, Heirloom does not refer to a specific coffee variety; rather, it represents a blend of green beans from the producing region. Cooperatives collect同期收成 from multiple small farmers and then combine them to form batches. It is precisely because of the differences between varieties that these coffee beans vary in particle size, dimensions, and shape—some large, some small, some long, some round—can be understood as "blended batches."

When purchasing Ethiopian coffee beans, the variety introduction on the packaging mostly reads "Heirloom," which translates to native varieties or heirloom in Chinese, referring to mixed harvested coffee varieties. However, in recent years, some Ethiopian coffee beans have begun to appear with numerical code varieties in the variety column, such as 74110, 74112, 74158, etc. So what do they represent?

The Rise of Disease-Resistant Varieties

In the 1970s, coffee plants in multiple producing regions of Ethiopia suffered severely from Coffee Berry Disease (CBD). Infected coffee cherries gradually turn from green to gray-black and eventually necrotize on the branches. Once infected, coffee trees may lose about 80% of their harvest.

In 1972, growers began using some chemical fungicides to prevent CBD. While somewhat effective, simply spraying pesticides is only treating the symptoms, not the root cause. The long-term solution was to find natural varieties with high resistance to Coffee Berry Disease. The following year, the Ethiopian coffee institution JARC (Jimma Agricultural Research Center) identified 19 locations in the southwestern region for variety collection. By 1975, researchers had collected 639 seed samples, conducted scientific identification and field trials, and finally selected 13 coffee varieties that were resistant to CBD, drought-tolerant, high-yielding, and had excellent flavor.

The subsequent 74*** and 75*** varieties were improved and developed from these mother coffee trees. JARC recorded this major category as "1974/1975 CBD-Resistant Selections." Therefore, 74 represents 1974, the year this variety was cataloged, and the last three digits are the experimental sample numbers. The familiar 74 series were all cataloged during this period. For example, the Sidamo Santa Vene coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list specifically selected the numbered variety 74158. After 96 hours of fermentation and natural processing, the mature coffee fruits exhibit rich pink floral aromas and tropical fruit flavors like guava and pineapple.

FrontStreet Coffee: Ethiopian Sidamo Santa Vene 74158 Coffee Beans

Country: Ethiopia
Grade: G1
Region: Sidamo
Processing Station: DWD Santa Vene Processing Station
Altitude: 2050 meters
Processing Method: Full red cherry 96-hour anaerobic natural
Variety: 74158
Flavor: Citrus, pineapple, guava, red wine finish

Landrace Varieties and Regional Specialties

Some observant coffee enthusiasts may have noticed that besides numerical varieties, some Ethiopian coffees also use unfamiliar English names. So what is the relationship between these varieties and native varieties?

In reality, there are certain growth differences between all coffee trees growing in the fields. Some coffee trees show strong cultivation advantages—not only adapting to local soil, climate, and environmental conditions, but their flavors gradually stabilize, and they exhibit advantages in disease resistance and productivity. These trees have been specially preserved by farmers. After years of cultivation and hybridization, they have been gradually "domesticated." With farmers conducting a certain degree of selection, the characteristics of individual plants are no longer unpredictable but become stable and regular. Such varieties are called Landrace by industry professionals, also known as "local varieties."

In recent years, thanks to the efforts of the Ethiopian agricultural management institution JARC (Jimma Agricultural Research Center), many regional local varieties that were previously simply classified under Heirloom have been identified and named, such as Kurume, Wolishao, Dega, Choche, Sardo Buna, Bedessa, etc. Additionally, more and more international green bean suppliers, in order to provide more choices for consumers pursuing "uniqueness," tend to purchase local coffee varieties that emphasize regional characteristics. From a cultivation and production perspective, these local varieties can demonstrate good adaptability in the region while ensuring decent income, making new and old farmers more willing to plant them.

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