As one of the most representative specialty coffee beans in Ethiopia, the popularity of Yirgacheffe has always been high. Whether it is coffee connoisseurs who have been drinking it for many years or novices who are just getting started, they all prefer it. Why is Yirgacheffe so popular?
Let’s first take a look at three different styles of Yirgacheffe:
① Front Street. Washed Yirgacheffe: the first choice for entry-level Yirgacheffe
Flavor: white floral, citrus, berry, tea flavor
Reason for recommendation: Representative of cost-effectiveness, with classic white flower tea charm, soft taste, elegant and sweet aftertaste, suitable for hand brewing, hanging ear, and cold brewing.
②Qianjie. Sun-dried red cherry G1: fruity advanced single product Yirgacheffe
Flavor: berry, citrus, floral, apricot, slightly fermented
Yirgacheffe sun-drying method: The fruits are sun-dried after being picked without being processed. This is the oldest existing processing method. The drying process usually lasts about 4 weeks. The processing method must be very rigorous to ensure that the coffee does not lose any flavor. The beans of the sun-dried method have a complete natural mellow taste, a gentle aroma and more gum.
③Qianjie. Washed Fruit Ding Ding G1: Yirgacheffe with scented scent of scented tea
Flavor: jasmine, yellow lemon, apricot, green tea, blueberry
Washing is to use the method of washing and fermentation to remove the peel, pulp and mucous membrane of the coffee, and wash the coffee beans until they are smooth and clean. After washing, the coffee beans are still contained in the endocarp and have a moisture content of 50%. They must be dried to reduce the moisture content to 12%, otherwise they will continue to ferment and become moldy and rotten. The better way to deal with it is to use sunlight drying. Although it takes 1 to 3 weeks, it has a very good flavor and is quite popular.
Yirgacheffe production area knowledge
Yirgacheffe (Yirgacheffe) does not represent a specific coffee bean, but the name of the coffee producing area, which specifically includes the town of Yirgacheffe in the northwest of Sidamo Province, Ethiopia, and the three by-product areas of Wenago, Kochere, and Gelena Abaya surrounding the town. The production area is surrounded by mountains and lakes, with a beautiful environment and an average altitude of between 1,700 and 2,100 meters. It is one of the highest altitude production areas in the world and is synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee.
The Yirgacheffe production area is formed by the surrounding coffee communities or cooperatives. The mountain town is filled with fog all year round and is spring-like all year round. The breeze is gentle in summer, cool but not hot, rainy but not damp, and cold in winter. Therefore, it is possible to breed the unique regional flavor of citrus and floral aromas and the unpredictable terroir of pastoral coffee.
Although the coffee beans produced in this area can be called Yirgacheffe, there is no clear definition of the type of coffee beans. Because the coffee varieties in Ethiopia are too complex, local coffee farmers use mixed planting and mixed harvesting methods, and they cannot distinguish specific coffee varieties, so these coffee beans are collectively called Ethiopian native species (Heirloom), and Yirgacheffe is mainly based on this native species of coffee beans (in recent years, thanks to the promotion of CoE, single bean species micro-lots have begun to appear in various Ethiopian production areas, including Yirgacheffe, such as 74110, 74112 and other digital bean species).
Therefore, coffee beans produced from different estates in the Yirgacheffe production area have different particle sizes, which is also a characteristic of coffee beans in Ethiopia.
In addition to native species, the unique flavor of Yirgacheffe is closely related to the geographical environment where it is grown. High-altitude areas have a large temperature difference between day and night, which delays the production of coffee fruits. The coffee beans contain rich floral and fruity aromas and bright acidity. The taste is clean, smooth and well-defined, forming a typical Yirgacheffe regional flavor.
In the early days, Yirgacheffe used the traditional sun-drying method. However, due to backward equipment and technology, the coffee beans could only be spread directly on the ground, which easily absorbed the smell of earth, causing unstable quality. Later, the Ethiopian government introduced the washing treatment method from Central and South America, which greatly improved the processing quality of Yirgacheffe coffee beans and made the flavor more clear and distinct. The washed coffee tastes very clean, fresh, soft and smooth, with a distinct floral aroma.
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
