Introduction to Grind Size, Roast Level, and Processing Methods for Refreshing Sidamo Specialty Coffee Beans

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee beans are among the most distinctive coffees in the world—rare and expensive, produced in the highlands of Ethiopia's Sidamo province at altitudes of 2,000 meters. As an outstanding representative of African washed coffees, they have always enjoyed a prestigious reputation among global coffee connoisseurs. These rare, high-quality washed Arabica beans are suitable for various degrees of roasting and perfectly present fresh, bright floral and fruit aromas. With beautifully formed, complete beans that general Mocha coffees cannot compare to, they represent a premium coffee experience.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe coffee beans possess unique citrus and lemon fruit fragrances, complemented by jasmine aromas. They exhibit wine-like acidity with a clean, pure flavor free of any impurities—much like drinking freshly brewed citrus fruit tea with a persistent aftertaste. The abundant floral and citrus notes are truly impressive. When medium-roasted, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe displays gentle acidity, while dark-roasted FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe releases rich aromas. The rich and uniform mouthfeel is the most captivating characteristic of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, celebrated as Ethiopia's finest coffee beans and a representative of East African specialty coffee. Yirgacheffe stands as one of the most uniquely flavored coffees in the world today.

Coffee Origin Details

Production Region: Sidamo

Main Varieties: Native Arabica, Bourbon, Typica, Others

Harvest Period: October—February

Altitude: 1,400m—2,000m

Grade: G1, G2, G3, G4, G5

Processing Method: Natural (Dry Process)

Flavor Characteristics: Aroma, Acidity, Body, Aftertaste

Recommended Roast Level: City, City+

Sidamo Region Characteristics

The Sidamo growing region is located in southern Ethiopia, extending eastward to the Arsi and Bale administrative regions and westward into the Gamogofa administrative area. Agriculture dominates the local economy, with coffee primarily cultivated around the Great Rift Valley. Sidamo's largest town, Hawassa, has developed rapidly in recent years, featuring many modern restaurants and hotels, serving as an important coffee export hub. Sidamo's coffee flavors are incredibly diverse, with different soil types, microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties creating distinct differences and characteristics in coffee produced by each town.

Alina is a G3 grade natural Sidamo coffee. The green beans are protected by GrainPro packaging bags, ensuring their full aroma is preserved without loss. From the moment you open the bag, it's absolutely stunning—rich aromas of sorghum wine mixed with fruit wine continuously assault your senses, revealing itself as a rare exceptional bean from first encounter!

Roasting and Flavor Profile

Due to its high grade, the defect rate is naturally low. With light to medium roasting, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe coffee delivers full, rich aromas, predominantly featuring blueberry, raspberry, cherry, and citrus notes, with fermented fruit aromas and wine-like notes as the finish. The sweetness and acidity are rich, charming, and fascinating.

When lightly roasted, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe is small-batch roasted for 15 minutes (210°C), then the heat is turned off and it coasts for half a minute before immediately dropping the beans to cool and remove the silver skin. The coffee beans roast very evenly (because the green beans are washed and very clean and uniform), resulting in a brown color. When grinding with a hand-crank coffee grinder, the feel is excellent—smooth with moderate resistance. The dry aroma of the coffee grounds initially has a slight earthy smell, immediately followed by a strong, restrained aroma. The wet aroma after brewing reveals distinct orange fruit notes, along with sweet and sour flavors similar to hawthorn and fruit leather. Upon sipping, the mouthfeel is slightly light but well-balanced, with very subtle, gentle acidity. The coffee is rich in oils with persistent foam.

When medium-dark roasted, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe is small-batch roasted for 17 minutes (230°C), then the heat is turned off and it coasts for half a minute before immediately dropping the beans to cool and remove the silver skin. The coffee bean surface shows slight oiliness, with the beans appearing dark brown. The beans are very light, and when grinding with a hand-crank coffee grinder, there's very little resistance, making the beans difficult to feed. The dry aroma of the coffee grounds has rich roasted notes and a very subtle African earthy smell. The wet aroma after brewing presents good roasted aromas—after the darker roast, the characteristic orange aroma completely disappears. However, when sipping the coffee, it's very rich, aromatic, and pleasant, with rich variations. The gentle acidity, bitterness, and astringency are all well-expressed, with a heavy texture and better viscosity than the light roast. The aftertaste is long-lasting.

Origin and Unique Characteristics

The uniquely aromatic Yirgacheffe comes from a small town called Yirga in the northwestern part of Sidamo province.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe's fresh fruit aroma is most prominent, mixed with a subtle tea fragrance. No bitterness can be found in the flavor. Additionally, because these are natural processed beans, there's a special aroma left from fermentation—or rather, a wine-like aroma that has similarities to the Bali Organic bean's fragrance, just not as pronounced as Bali's. After researching relevant information and understanding that this bean has excellent quality, the general principle is to roast as light as possible to showcase the bean's characteristics, so the roast was stopped at the end of the first crack.

The bean uniformity is slightly lacking, very much like the roasting state of Ethiopian natural beans. Due to the relatively light roast, many beans still haven't completely shed their silver skin. In appearance, they differ significantly from many Central and South American beans that are plump and lustrous. However, Ethiopian beans have never been known for their beautiful appearance but rather for their beautiful flavor profile (here, I can only use "beautiful" to describe Ethiopian beans—synesthetic rhetoric, haha).

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473