Grade of Ethiopian Sidamo G1 Coffee Beans

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Recently, many customers visiting FrontStreet Coffee to purchase coffee beans have noticed packaging bags marked with English letters like G1 and AA, but don't understand their meaning. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee would like to provide a simple introduction to how Ethiopian coffee bean grades are classified. As the homeland of coffee, Ethiopia is a natural coffee gene bank with many different varieties of Ethiopian coffee trees mixed together. Due to the extremely diverse coffee varieties, local Ethiopians cannot distinguish between specific coffee bean varieties and simply refer to them as Ethiopian native varieties.

Actually, every type of coffee bean has grade classifications, and coffee grades vary by region. Generally, classifications are based on altitude of origin, screen size (which essentially means raw bean size), and so-called coffee grade classification based on screen size and the proportion of defective beans. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss the grade classification of Sidamo coffee beans with everyone.

Sidamo Coffee Region

The Sidamo region is one of Ethiopia's famous specialty coffee producing areas, renowned for its Ethiopian coffee beans that brew bright citrus and lemon notes with subtle berry-like acidity when prepared. Among them, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe, Guodingding, and natural Red Cherry coffee beans come from Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe region, while the Flower Champion coffee beans that won the raw bean competition come from the Guji region. What many people may not know is that both Yirgacheffe and Guji regions were formerly part of the Sidamo region, but were later separated by ECX because the coffee beans from these two regions had such distinctive flavors.

Ethiopian Coffee Bean Classification

Ethiopian coffee beans are classified based on the proportion of defective beans, primarily by grading green coffee beans according to the number of defective beans in 300g. For example, if there are 3 or fewer defective beans per 300g, it's classified as G1; if there are 4-12 defective beans per 300g, it's classified as G2; if there are 13-25 defective beans per 300g, it's classified as G3; if there are 26-45 defective beans per 300g, it's classified as G4; and if there are 46-90 defective beans per 300g, it's classified as G5. Generally, washed processed beans are G1-G2. Due to technical issues with natural processing at that time, natural processed beans had more defects and were typically G3-G5. With improvements in natural processing technology, natural beans can now also achieve G1-G2 grades.

As you can see, G1 is the highest grade with the fewest defective beans, while commercial beans are typically G4 grade. The Sidamo region generally uses natural processing to handle coffee beans, where ripe coffee fruits from Ethiopian native varieties are picked, defective beans and other impurities are removed, and then they are directly placed on raised beds to dry for two to four weeks. Finally, hulling machines are used for processing. Therefore, Sidamo coffee beans not only have the citrus aroma of washed beans but also carry a rich berry fragrance. However, if natural processing is not done properly, the coffee beans may develop an earthy taste, causing the inherent aroma of the coffee beans to disappear.

Coffee Classification in Different Countries

However, not all countries classify coffee grades based on the number of defective beans like Ethiopia does. In fact, coffee grade classification varies among many countries. Some countries classify coffee primarily by bean size, including Tanzania, Rwanda, Colombia, Jamaica, and others. For example, Kenya typically has eight grades: E (Elephant beans), AA, AB, C, PB, TT, T, and MH/ML.

Jamaican coffee is classified by quality from high to low as: NO.1, NO.2, NO.3, and PB (Peaberry). According to CIB standards, the defect rate is below 3% with moisture content around 13%. Among these, NO.1 Blue Mountain green beans have a basic standard of beans above 17 screen size, NO.2 green beans are above 16 screen size, NO.3 is above 15 screen size, while PB is approximately above 14 screen size. Jamaican High Mountain coffee has similar grades to Blue Mountain coffee but doesn't have the PB grade, while Jamaican coffee only has the prime grade with screen sizes between 15-17.

Ethiopian Coffee Growing and Processing

Because coffee beans from Ethiopia's Sidamo region vary greatly in size, they are generally not classified based on bean size. At this point, everyone might have a question: why doesn't Ethiopia select superior Ethiopian native coffee varieties for unified cultivation during planting? To address this question, FrontStreet Coffee needs to explain the situation of coffee cultivation and harvesting in Ethiopia. Generally, most Ethiopian coffee trees grow in wild or semi-wild states in different areas or plots. Because Ethiopia is located in a tropical region, tropical plants are very easy to grow. When coffee fruits mature, coffee farmers harvest them. In reality, the coffee fruits harvested by farmers are of various varieties. Ethiopia has nearly 2,000 recorded coffee varieties, including 1,927 native varieties and 128 introduced varieties. Ethiopian coffee varieties are like a "grand garden" - they have everything: long, short, thin, and fat.

The Red Cherry Project

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, after Dutch green bean merchants noticed the inconsistent quality of Ethiopian coffee fruits, they collaborated with local Ethiopian cooperatives to launch the "Red Cherry Project." This project increases the purchase price of high-quality green coffee beans to encourage coffee farmers to more carefully complete every process of coffee bean harvesting and processing. This results in coffee beans with better quality and taste, which can gain better recognition in the terminal market, thereby balancing the relatively high coffee purchase prices.

The natural Red Cherry coffee beans available at FrontStreet Coffee are part of this project. In roasting and cupping, FrontStreet Coffee can still feel a clear difference between them. Because the coffee beans from the Red Cherry Project have more uniform maturity, this allows them to retain a large amount of floral aroma and fruit acidity during roasting. Non-Red Cherry Project coffee beans, due to uneven maturity, make it difficult to balance both uniform roasting and flavor fullness and cleanliness.

Brewing Recommendations

Because Ethiopia's Sidamo region is classified based on coffee bean defect rate, the coffee beans will have obvious unevenness in particle size, which leads to uneven roasting. FrontStreet Coffee believes that perhaps it is precisely this characteristic that creates the rich flavors and diverse aromas of Ethiopian coffee.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee uses higher water temperature and finer grind size to extract the fruit acidity of Ethiopian Sidamo region coffee, using faster flow rate drippers like the V60. So, if you still have questions, you are welcome to visit FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) stores to exchange coffee knowledge.

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