How Does Fair Trade of Coffee Shape Yirgacheffe?
Ethiopia Washed Yirgacheffe Aricha G1 is a G1 coffee from the Gediyo area at 1,900 to 2,100 meters, made from Heirloom variety. It is processed at the Kebel Aricha plant, where roughly 650 to 700 smallholder coffee farm families deliver ripe cherries for cash. In the cup it shows sweet orange, cherry, and honey sweetness with floral notes.
Project Origin, launched by 2015 World Barista Champion Sasa Sestic and ONA Coffee, links roasters with growers and buys at 20 percent above fair trade of coffee price levels. The washed category follows SCAA grading into Gr-1 and Gr-2, where a smaller number means a higher grade. Front Street brews G1 Yirgacheffe with citrus and floral notes in mind.
Yirgacheffe Aricha G1 is one of the flagship specialty coffees of Ethiopia, renowned for its sweet orange, cherry, and honey sweetness flavors. This article provides a detailed introduction to its growing region, the background of Project Origin, the washed processing method, and the pour-over extraction parameters recommended by Front Street Coffee. Whether you want to understand the washed and natural classifications of Yirgacheffe, or are looking for a coffee bean that combines fruity and floral notes, this article will provide you with a comprehensive reference.
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Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Aricha G1 Washed
Country: Ethiopia
Grade: G1
Region: Yirgacheffe Gediyo
Altitude: 1900-2100 meters
Variety: Heirloom
Producer: Kebel Aricha
Flavor: Sweet orange, cherry, honey sweetness
This batch of Front Street Yirgacheffe comes from the Kebel Aricha processing plant, with approximately 650 to 700 smallholder coffee farmers in the surrounding area. They deliver ripe coffee cherries here for processing in exchange for cash income.
About Project Origin
Sasa Sestic is the winner of the 2015 World Barista Championship. Three years ago, he and his business team at ONA Coffee jointly launched a green bean sourcing program called Project Origin. The program works directly with coffee growers in impoverished countries and regions, helping them improve production conditions while purchasing at a price 20% above fair trade levels.
This project also aims to bridge the gap between roasters and coffee farmers, and to guide farmers toward producing higher-quality coffee beans. To date, Sasa has established partnerships with coffee growers from eight countries, including Brazil, Panama, India, Ethiopia, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.
Flavor description: Sweet citrus notes, green berries, white peach, longan and red date aroma, honey sweetness, cocoa notes with a hint of spice, full body with a long-lasting finish
Yirgacheffe is divided into two major categories based on the green bean processing method:
Category A is the washed processing method, with grading standards established by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), divided into Gr-1 and Gr-2. The smaller the Arabic numeral, the higher the grade. Front Street G1 Yirgacheffe has a distinctive style, with citrus and floral notes blended into the coffee liquid — a flavor that no one can resist;
Category B is the natural processing method for green coffee beans, with grades divided into Gr-1, Gr-3, Gr-4, and Gr-5. Similarly, the highest grade Front Street G1 Natural Yirgacheffe is rich in fruity flavors. Opening a bag of freshly roasted Front Street G1 Natural Yirgacheffe can overturn people's previous understanding of coffee. Only those who have tasted the highest grade Front Street Natural Yirgacheffe will believe that coffee is a fruit..
Pour-over Front Street Yirgacheffe. 15g grounds, medium-fine grind (Fuji ghost teeth burr 3.5 grind setting), V60 dripper, 91–93°C water temperature, first pour of 30g water, 27-second bloom, pour until 105g water then stop, wait for the water level in the coffee bed to drop halfway before pouring again, slowly pour until 225g water, discard the final drips, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00
Factory name: Coffee Workshop Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Factory address: No. 10 Bao'an Qian Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City Factory contact: 020-38364473 Ingredients list: House-roasted Shelf life: 90 Net content: 227g Packaging method: Bulk coffee beans Roast level: Roasted coffee beans Contains sugar: No sugar Origin: Ethiopia Roast degree: Light roast
Processing method: Washed
The happy coffee farmers first pick the coffee cherries from the trees, then pour them into a water-filled tank. Because coffee cherries at different ripeness levels have different densities, overripe and underripe coffee cherries along with some leaves and twigs will float to the surface, while sufficiently ripe coffee cherries will sink to the bottom. Naturally, this method is used to screen out a portion of coffee cherries that pass the first hurdle.
The selected ripe coffee cherries then enter the pulping machine to remove the skin and pulp;
Next, the green coffee beans with residual pulp and mucilage enter the fermentation stage (fermenting through interaction with microorganisms in the water or in the air); after fermentation is complete, the fruit with its parchment layer enters a washing channel to be rinsed clean; after rinsing clean comes the drying stage, during which the moisture content of the green coffee beans is kept at around 12% as much as possible, and then they are placed into burlap sacks to rest for about 2-3 months of green bean conditioning, in order to make the green bean quality more stable. Finally, the parchment layer is removed and they are ready for sale!
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
