Yirgacheffe is similar to neighboring Sidamo in terms of culture and geographical environment, but Yirgacheffe seems to be more favored and enjoys unique conditions. Top-quality Front Street Yirgacheffe coffee has floral aroma, bright citrus acidity, lemon tonality, and silky smooth taste.
Front Street Yirgacheffe – Woka Cooperative
Today I will introduce a non-traditional Ethiopian specialty coffee - Front Street Woka Cooperative, because it does not use the ancient sun-drying process, nor the traditional washing, but a special anaerobic sun-drying process.
This bean comes from the town of Yirgacheffe and is produced by the Worka cooperative. Alemayehu Alako Farm is a member of the Woka Cooperative. Woka Cooperative is located in the southern part of Gedeb District. It was established in 2005 and joined the famous Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU) that year. It is famous for its production of high-quality front street sun-dried Yirgacheffe. The Woka cooperative has about 300 coffee farmers. YCFCU was established in 2002 and includes 26 other cooperatives as members, serving more than 45,000 coffee farmers.
Because no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used in the coffee cultivation process, the small farmers in Woka have also obtained the Skal organic coffee certification recognized by the European Union.
The coffee is mainly grown by more than 700 local small farmers, and is processed using traditional washing and sun-drying methods. Because the flavor and taste of Woka coffee are outstanding and have the characteristics of the production area, the coffee produced by Woka has become one of the representatives of Ethiopian specialty coffee. Front Street believes that why the rich flavor of Woka is so appealing is largely due to the hard work of farmers, the careful harvesting of coffee, and the rigorous processing.
People who often drink Ethiopian coffee should have heard of the Heirloom variety. Most Ethiopian varieties are named after this name. In fact, this is because there are so many varieties in Ethiopia. It is like the natural gene pool of Arabica. On the one hand, there are many varieties and it is difficult to identify and classify them. On the other hand, the Ethiopian government is unwilling to disclose the information of these varieties out of protection considerations, so they are collectively called Heirloom varieties. Because there are so many varieties, they are planted and harvested in a mixed manner. Front Street believes that this is the reason why Ethiopian beans come in different sizes.
Regarding processing methods, Front Street Waka Cooperative coffee beans are anaerobically sun-dried, which is a processing method that adds an anaerobic fermentation step before drying. The so-called anaerobic process is to put mature coffee cherries into a sealed tank, inject carbon dioxide to expel oxygen, and allow the pulp to further mature in a low-temperature environment, making the beans richer in tropical fruit aroma, and finally drying them in the sun. This step allows Front Street Woka Cooperative’s coffee beans to express the flavors of strawberry, magnolia, and small mango.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
