Yirgacheffe G2 Coffee Bean Flavor Description | Processing Methods & Brewing Guide

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Let me ask you a question: When you think of single-origin coffee with refreshing, pleasant flavors and noticeable acidity, which coffee comes to mind first? FrontStreet Coffee has observed that washed Yirgacheffe coffee beans, with their lemon-like acidity, are the coffee beans that most customers immediately think of.

Yirgacheffe Coffee Region

The Yirgacheffe region is located in Ethiopia and was originally a sub-region under the Sidamo region. Its coffee flavor is bright and delicate, forming a distinctive coffee style within the Sidamo region. Due to its high recognizability, farmers competed to pride themselves on their coffee beans having Yirgacheffe flavor. Thus, it became independent from Sidamo and is now the most renowned Yirgacheffe region.

Yirgacheffe was originally a small town in Ethiopia, located in the Sidamo provincial administrative region. This town has been a wetland since ancient times—the ancient word "Yirga" means "settle down," and "Cheffe" means "wetland."

Yirgacheffe is one of the highest altitude coffee growing regions in the world and is synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee. With an altitude of 1700-2100 meters, it's cool and foggy year-round with spring-like seasons. The terrain environment and unique cultivation system provide the best conditions for growing specialty coffee beans.

Initially, the Yirgacheffe region used the most traditional natural drying method to process coffee beans. Later, after the Ethiopian government introduced the washing process from Central and South America, the quality of Yirgacheffe coffee beans instantly improved. Its bright, uplifting acidity and white floral flavor characteristics quickly garnered a large following of loyal fans.

The Yirgacheffe coffee region is considered a high-altitude coffee growing region, with an altitude of about 2000 meters. The Yirgacheffe coffee region has more than 40 cooperatives, mainly managing coffee cultivation through family-operated models. Underneath the Yirgacheffe coffee region are many well-known micro-regions, such as Kochere, Fog Valley, Gedeb, and others. These micro-regions all have excellent cooperatives, and the Yirgacheffe coffee beans they produce each have their unique flavor characteristics.

Banko Gotiti Cooperative

The Banko Gotiti Cooperative, located in the Woka region at the southeastern end of Yirgacheffe, was originally part of the Woka Cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Union (YCFCU). Later, as people pursued traceability of green coffee beans, "single-origin" coffees were discovered one by one by coffee hunters from around the world.

In 2012, Banko Gotiti, with about 300 member farmers, independently established the "Banko Gotiti Cooperative." Banko Gotiti village was one of the first village areas to be separated, and many small farmers were originally members of the Woka Cooperative, so their coffee production skills are unquestionable. The Banko Gotiti Cooperative is known as the last pure land of Yirgacheffe, so it also uses very traditional green bean processing methods (washed and natural processing).

Washed Processing Method

FrontStreet Coffee's Banko Gotiti Cooperative coffee beans use the washed processing method. First, a pulping machine is used to remove the peel/pulp of the coffee cherry, then it's left to ferment in fermentation tanks for 18-36 hours until the mucilage layer decomposes (the duration depends on local temperature and humidity conditions). Next, the parchment beans are washed through channels for 30-60 minutes.

At this point, through channel design配合 with water flow flushing, low-density, poor-quality beans can be removed. Then, the high-quality parchment beans are placed on African-style drying beds for about 14 days of drying. After drying is complete, they are first stored in the processing plant's warehouse. Before export, the parchment beans are transported to a Dry Mill for hulling, followed by a series of complex screening processes including foreign matter removal, silver skin removal and polishing, gravity screening, and color sorting, before finally being bagged for export.

Natural Processing Method

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Aletaland Cooperative Natural Red Cherry coffee beans use the natural processing method. "Natural processing," as the name suggests, involves drying coffee beans through sunlight. As the most primitive coffee bean processing method, the quality of dried coffee beans was once a pain point for farmers!

Due to outdated equipment, many coffee cherries were placed directly on the ground (those with slightly better conditions had a waterproof cloth underneath) for direct sun exposure. Because of rough conditions and crude handling methods, coffee beans absorbed the "essence of the earth," developing earthy flavors. Additionally, natural processing heavily depends on weather. Once encountering cloudy or rainy weather, coffee cherries are prone to mold, and the coffee beans will develop rotten flavors.

However, as people pay more attention to specialty coffee, natural processing equipment in many producing regions has been upgraded. Wealthier areas have built drying beds (equipment formed by supporting mesh fabric with stands to create upper and lower ventilation for drying coffee cherries, also called African raised beds). Those less wealthy have built concrete floors to reduce the absorption of earthy flavors by coffee cherries. During the drying process, attention is also paid to turning the cherries to ensure more uniform drying.

The harvested coffee cherries are sorted and then placed on concrete floors or drying racks for 3-4 weeks of natural drying, reducing the moisture content of the coffee cherries to 11% (meaning the shell is hard and dark reddish-black). After drying is complete, the outer shell is removed, and the coffee beans are stored with parchment. The parchment is only removed before the coffee beans are exported.

FrontStreet Coffee - Pour-over Comparison Sharing

From the above, we can learn that Yirgacheffe coffee beans processed by these two methods each show their advantages. Washed processed Yirgacheffe gives people a refreshing, clean feeling with bright acidity; naturally processed Yirgacheffe shows fuller flavor, with juiciness and sweetness. Therefore, when brewing, we need to use different brewing approaches to bring out the characteristics of the beans.

Washed Yirgacheffe Brewing Approach

FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-light roasted Yirgacheffe Banko Gotiti Cooperative washed coffee beans for brewing.

FrontStreet Coffee: Ethiopia Banko Gotiti Coffee Beans

Region: Yirgacheffe Gedeo Zone
Altitude: 1900-2300m
Variety: Heirloom
Processing: Washed
Grade: G1

FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia Banko Gotiti Coffee Beans Flavor Description

At high temperature: berries, cream, honey, citrus, juice-like mouthfeel, bright acidity. When the temperature slightly cools: berries, cream, smooth, citrus.

First, let me share that this bean's dry aroma shows fresh citrus and white floral notes; when sipped at different temperatures, bright citrus tones, honey, and clean mouthfeel emerge, with floral and tea notes in between.

In terms of grind size, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using medium-fine grind (Chinese standard #20 sieve pass rate 78%).

If the grind is too coarse, it cannot extract the body substances, and the brewed coffee will appear thin; if the grind is too fine, it's prone to over-extraction at high water temperatures, and the brewed coffee will easily develop bitterness.

In choosing the brewing dripper, FrontStreet Coffee selected the V60 dripper for brewing to highlight the refreshing and charming aroma of washed Yirgacheffe coffee beans.

The spiral rib design of the dripper allows coffee grounds to degas better, maximizing the volatilization and dissolution of acidic aromatic substances. For the brewing method, FrontStreet Coffee uses three-stage extraction to allow different flavor compounds to better express themselves during the gradual temperature increase of the coffee bed.

During the cupping process, FrontStreet Coffee noticed that this bean shows different flavors at different temperatures, so adjustments were made to the brewing technique.

For brewing water temperature, we might consider it from two aspects.

If you want to obtain bright, uplifting acidity with a tea-like finish, you can brew using temperatures in the 90°C-91°C range; if you want full-bodied acidity and hope to enhance the body, you can use temperatures in the 92°C-93°C range for brewing.

For the brewing ratio, since washed processed Yirgacheffe coffee beans have relatively refreshing flavors, to more clearly perceive the floral notes and honey sweetness, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using a 1:16 water-to-coffee ratio to slightly reduce the acidity of the entire cup, giving other lighter flavors a chance to express themselves.

FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Yirgacheffe Brewing Approach

FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-light roasted Yirgacheffe Aletaland Cooperative Natural Red Cherry coffee beans for brewing. Regarding the brewing ratio, natural processed Yirgacheffe coffee beans have relatively full flavors. To achieve a fuller, smoother juiciness, you can use a 1:15 ratio to concentrate all the sweet and sour flavor compounds. In terms of brewing water temperature, FrontStreet Coffee uses temperatures in the 91°C-92°C range to highlight the sweetness and full juiciness of natural processed Yirgacheffe coffee beans, enhancing the overall body.

This bean's dry aroma shows full berry sweetness and sourness. When sipped at different temperatures, gentle berry sweetness and sourness, mature fruit fermentation, obvious honey sweetness, and black tea notes emerge, with a smooth mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee - Yirgacheffe Aletaland Cooperative Red Cherry Coffee Beans

Country: Ethiopia
Region: Yirgacheffe
Processing Station: Aletaland
Altitude: 2300m
Variety: Local Heirloom
Processing: Natural Processing
Grade: G1

FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Aletaland Cooperative Red Cherry Coffee Beans Flavor Description

Lemon, citrus, berries, sweet orange, overall high sweetness, aftertaste with caramel and cream flavors, finish with black tea aroma.

The grind size and brewing dripper still use medium-fine grind (Chinese standard #20 sieve pass rate 80%) and V60 dripper for brewing. Another feature of the V60 dripper is its 60-degree angle design, which prolongs the contact time between water and coffee, fully extracting the sweet and sour substances from the coffee.

This bean has an overall full mouthfeel, with obvious juiciness and sweetness, so the brewing technique uses center pouring extraction, allowing the coffee bed to stably and fully extract the sweet and sour flavor compounds at the same temperature.

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