Yirgacheffe Werka Coffee Beans Flavor Characteristics and Profile

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

Introduction

Yirgacheffe is one of the most well-known coffee producing regions, and its coffee beans have become the entry point for many people into specialty coffee. When speaking of Yirgacheffe, Sidamo comes to mind, and many people don't understand their relationship and differences. Both regions belong to Ethiopia. Simply put, Sidamo is a province, and Yirgacheffe is a town within Sidamo province. Yirgacheffe was originally a sub-region of Sidamo and is one of Ethiopia's highest altitude coffee producing regions.

Yirgacheffe coffee beans, with their unique flavor characteristics, became independent from Sidamo and established their own identity, becoming one of Africa's most prestigious regions. During cupping, FrontStreet Coffee found that the most obvious flavor characteristics of washed Yirgacheffe are distinct floral aromas and rich citrus notes. However, coffee flavors can also vary depending on factors like brewing temperature and roasting degree. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will experiment with Worka to explore these differences.

Bean Information

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Worka
Grade: G1
Variety: Heirloom
Altitude: 1650-1800 meters
Processing Method: Washed

Region Profile

Yirgacheffe is located in the Gedeo region of southern Ethiopia. This region governs the relatively well-known areas of Yirgacheffe and Kochere, with altitudes ranging from 1700-2100m. It is one of the world's highest altitude coffee growing regions and has become synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's single-origin coffee comes from Ethiopia, processed by the Worka Cooperative. Alemayehu Alako farm is a member of the Worka Cooperative.

Worka is located in the Yirgacheffe region at altitudes of 1800-2000 meters. The Worka Cooperative was established in 2005 and joined the famous Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) in the same year. It is known for producing high-quality natural processed Yirgacheffe coffee, with approximately 300 coffee farmers under its umbrella.

Coffee Processing - Washed

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Worka coffee beans use the washed processing method.

The steps of the washed processing method are: first, sorted coffee cherries are placed in a depulper to remove their skin and pulp. The coffee beans with remaining mucilage are placed in water to ferment for about 24 hours. After fermentation, the parchment coffee beans are placed in flowing water channels to wash away remaining pulp and mucilage. After washing, the coffee beans are dried either by sun-drying or using mechanical dryers until the moisture content reaches around 12%. Finally, the parchment is removed from the green coffee beans.

The washed processing method gives these washed Worka coffee beans higher acidity and classic lemon and citrus acidity.

Coffee Variety - Heirloom

FrontStreet Coffee's Worka coffee beans are also of the Heirloom variety.

Generally, coffee farmers may grow multiple varieties simultaneously and might select better varieties for separate sale. What's particularly special about Ethiopia is that in this country, most coffee grows in wild or semi-wild states in fields, backyards, or under forests. What coffee farmers harvest is actually a large mix of many different natural varieties.

Wild coffee trees particularly like to grow under forests. Trees that provide shade for coffee are called "Shade Trees"; this planting method is known as "Shade-grown Coffee." The advantage is reducing ecological impact, and diverse biodiversity helps suppress pests and diseases. In some regions, local food crops like bananas are used to shade coffee, achieving multiple benefits.

Ethiopia has recorded nearly 2000 coffee varieties, including 1927 native varieties and 128 introduced foreign varieties. So in terms of appearance alone, Ethiopia's coffee varieties are like a "grand garden" with everything - long, short, thin, fat...

Ethiopia Grading (by Defect Ratio)

Before the establishment of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), Ethiopia's coffee export grades were set by the CLU (Cupping and Liquoring Unit) under the Ministry of Agriculture, primarily grading green coffee beans based on the number of defects in 300g samples. The grading standards are as follows:

Generally, washed coffees are G1-G2. Due to natural processing technical issues at the time, natural processed beans had more defects and were typically G3-G5. With improvements in natural processing technology, current natural processed beans can also achieve G1-G2 grades.

After the establishment of ECX (Ethiopia Commodity Exchange) in 2008, grading began using a combination of physical attribute characteristics and cupping flavor characteristics for scoring.

ECX classifies all coffee into three types based on processing methods:

a. Specialty - Few defects, high cupping quality
b. Commercial - Doesn't reach specialty grade but higher than local/domestic consumption grade
c. Local/Domestic - More defects (unripe beans), over-season or poorly stored resulting in relatively poor flavor

Among these, Specialty and Commercial are for international export markets. ECX divides green coffee beans into nine grades based on the total score of physical attributes and cupping flavor characteristics, with physical characteristics accounting for 40% and cupping quality for 60%.

Physical Characteristics (40%):

Washed processing: Defect count (20%), appearance size (10%), color (5%), aroma (5%)
Non-washed processing: Defect count (30%), aroma (10%)

Cupping Quality (60%)

Then G1-G3 are cupped again according to SCAA standards to more finely evaluate their flavor attributes. G1 and G2 scoring no less than 85 points are rated as Q1 grade; G1, G2, and G3 scoring between 80-85 points are rated as Q2 grade; and all G1, G2, and G3 scoring below 80 points are rated as G3 grade.

Q1 and Q2 are classified as specialty grades for export. G4-G9 maintain their original grading unchanged and are classified with G3 as commercial grades for export.

Roasting Recommendations

The acidity of Yirgacheffe is its characteristic. To highlight this feature, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters recommend using light roasting.

The temperature rise is relatively gentle, with a roasting time of just over 10 minutes, providing sufficient time and temperature for dehydration and allowing chlorogenic acids to degrade. If degradation is insufficient, the coffee will have sharp acidity that feels uncomfortable on the tongue and somewhat rough. Simultaneously, continuing heat application after first crack will continue the caramelization reaction, producing caramel sweetness and other sweet flavors, resulting in a more substantial, weighty sweetness, while bright fruity acidity will be slightly diminished.

FrontStreet Coffee experimented with different water temperatures to brew Yirgacheffe Worka G1 (light roast), observing the different flavors presented. Other parameters were kept consistent.

Three water temperatures were chosen: 86°C, 90°C, and 94°C. Other parameters were kept as consistent as possible, using Hario V60 for brewing, with a water-to-coffee ratio of 1:15, 15g coffee grounds, and a grind size of BG#6S (80% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve).

The brewing technique was also consistent, using a segmented extraction method: 30g of water for bloom for 30s, then small circular pours to 125g before segmenting, continuing to pour to 225g when the water level drops to expose the coffee bed. Extraction time is 2 minutes (starting from bloom timing).

[87°C Pour-over Flavor]

Entry shows lemon and tea notes, with pronounced acidity and a rounded mouthfeel. Overall layers are somewhat thin.

[90°C Pour-over Flavor]

Entry shows lemon, plum, and Tieguanyin tea notes, with distinct caramel flavors as temperature changes. The acidity is bright with a noticeable sweet aftertaste.

[94°C Pour-over Flavor]

Entry shows lemon and berry notes, with pronounced acidity and enhanced body, rich tea notes.

From the above observations, the 90°C flavor best represents the bright fruit acidity and refreshing tea notes of Yirgacheffe Worka coffee beans. The 87°C temperature had weak layer complexity with insufficient flavor prominence, while 94°C, although enhancing body, lacked brightness in acidity.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473