Yirgacheffe Coffee vs Americano: How Many Calories in an Americano

As specialty coffee culture spreads, American coffee is no longer simply another word for black coffee. Walk into a coffee shop and you will often see customers ordering a cup of FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe from the barista. Don't those four words sound fresh and enticing? So what kind of coffee is Yirgacheffe, and how does it differ from an American coffee? FrontStreet Coffee explains what its Yirgacheffe coffee is.

Yirgacheffe is not the name of a drink. It refers to coffee made from beans grown in the Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia. The town of Yirgacheffe lies in southern Ethiopia and once belonged to Sidamo, another famous Ethiopian coffee region. Yirgacheffe sits at 1,700-2,100 meters, and the coffee trees are planted above 1,800m. That makes it one of the highest coffee-growing regions in the world and has made the name synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee.

In the town of Yirgacheffe, most people grow coffee trees in their own courtyards. The courtyards here are neither tiny nor large, so each household's production is modest. To process and export green beans properly, everyone sends their harvested cherries to nearby processing plants for sun-drying or washing.

Because the town has abundant water, the local processing plants and cooperatives have built washing channels, making Yirgacheffe one of the most important regions for Ethiopian washed coffee. From 2006 to the present the number of cooperatives and processing plants in the town has reached over 30, and private washing stations have become an important catalyst for specialty coffee. In recent years the region has kept introducing micro-batch processing, making Yirgacheffe one of the growing regions most strongly promoted by coffee merchants.

The Distinctive Characteristics of Yirgacheffe Coffee

As Yirgacheffe's reputation in specialty coffee circles grew, in 2010 the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange separated the region from Sidamo, creating the Yirgacheffe growing region we know today. What makes coffee from here so captivating is its fresh notes, bright citrus acidity, subtle floral aromas and green-tea sweetness. It suits drinkers who are just starting to explore specialty coffee and dislike bitter coffee.

Difference Between FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe and American Coffee

So how does FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe coffee differ from an American coffee? Simply put, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe beans can be used to make an American coffee, but an American coffee is not necessarily made with them. The former is a coffee-growing region; the latter is one of the names of coffee beverages.

An American coffee is espresso diluted with water. Espresso requires extracting a highly concentrated coffee liquid in a short time at high temperature using a pressurised machine. It is called American coffee, reportedly, because American soldiers in Italy were not accustomed to the extremely concentrated local coffee and added water to it.

The method of making espresso and the practice of diluting it were brought back to America by those soldiers and spread widely. That habit of diluting espresso for drinking has become one of the classics on coffee menus: the Americano.

Single Origin vs. Blend Coffee

Normally, to make espresso more balanced and full-bodied, most coffee shops use blended beans. As awareness of specialty and single-origin coffee has grown, however, a small number of shops also use Yirgacheffe beans to make SOE, single origin espresso.

Unlike conventional espresso made from a blend, espresso made from a single origin further highlights the bean's own character. Extracted poorly, the pleasant fresh notes can turn sharp and sour, making the cup hard to swallow. That is why, when shops roast single-origin beans for espresso, they need to roast slightly darker to reduce the risk of harsh acidity during extraction.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, most shops use FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe beans for ice drip, cold brew and pour-over. To highlight its fresh, bright acidity, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters adopt a light roast to preserve the bright lemon acidity and green-tea aftertaste of the beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Selection

FrontStreet Coffee currently sells several Yirgacheffe coffees: FrontStreet Coffee's Gedeb washed beans from the Gedeb cooperative, FrontStreet Coffee's Woka natural beans from the Woka cooperative, FrontStreet Coffee's Kochere washed beans from the Kochere cooperative, and FrontStreet Coffee's natural red cherry beans from the Aletaland cooperative. All are available at FrontStreet Coffee's physical stores and its Taobao store, shipped within 5 days of the roast date.

Brewing Recommendations

For Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee recommends a grind size similar to fine sugar, with an 80% pass rate through China's No. 20 standard sieve, paired with water at 90-92°C.

FrontStreet Coffee recommends a 1:15 ratio using a three-pour technique. Start timing, then pour to 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Begin the second small circular pour to 125g, and when the water level drops to half, pour again in small circles to 225g. When the dripping finishes, the total extraction time should be around 2 minutes 00 seconds to 2 minutes 10 seconds.

Health Benefits

Whether it is an American coffee or a single origin, as long as no sugar, milk or other ingredients are added and it stays pure black coffee, the calories are very, very low. Anyone trying to lose weight can enjoy American coffee, pour-over, cold brew and ice drip coffee without worry.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The Yirgacheffe described above is the same coffee that makes an excellent black cup at home, and FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is the natural starting point. It is known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity and a tea-like finish, at a price that has made it a first specialty bean for many drinkers. Yirgacheffe lies in southern Ethiopia's Sidamo area at roughly 1,700-2,100 metres, with trees planted above 1,800 metres, and the town's white florals and lemon-citrus acidity have made the name shorthand for Ethiopian specialty coffee. The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange only split Yirgacheffe from Sidamo as its own region in 2010.

For a single-lot step up in clarity, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Gedeb cooperative beans come from the Woka area, once part of the Yirgacheffe union and now a sought-after single-origin micro-lot. Traditional washing leaves clean citrus and lemon acidity and jasmine fragrance with none of the bitterness people often expect. If you prefer fruit over florals, the natural red cherry lot uses only fully ripe red cherries, sorted at the mill, dried on raised beds for three to five weeks and turned every two to three hours in the first days, then hulled and stored. It keeps the typical Yirgacheffe character while adding tropical fruit, berry-juice body, honey sweetness and a creamy smoothness.

To keep the cup black and the calories low, brew it in a V60 with 15 grams of coffee at a 1:15 ratio and water at 90-91°C, ground to an EK43s setting of 10, about fine sugar with 80 percent passing a No. 20 sieve. Bloom with 30 grams for 30 seconds, pour to about 125 grams over a minute, then add water to about 225 grams over 1 minute 35 seconds when the level drops to two-thirds of the bed, finishing in 2 to 2 minutes 10 seconds.