What Makes Yirgacheffe Red Cherry G1 Coffee Bean Processing Distinct?

Yirgacheffe Red Cherry G1 from Front Street is a sun-dried Ethiopian coffee, and the natural coffee bean processing behind it concentrates dried-fruit aroma and body. The cup shows strawberry, mango and apricot jam notes with ripe-fruit sweetness and almost no detectable bitterness, drinking more like fruit tea than a conventional coffee.

Yirgacheffe sits between 1,700 and 2,100 meters, one of the highest coffee-growing areas, watered by Lakes Turkana, Abaya and Chamo. The Red Cherry Plan, run by green bean trader Trabocca, pays farmers more for careful picking, raising overall quality. Front Street offers washed and sun-dried Yirgacheffe, and the green coffee bean analysis, roast curve and V60 parameters here show how the sun-dried lot performs.

Yirgacheffe is a shining calling card of Ethiopian specialty coffee, and the sun-dried Red Cherry Plan G1 pushes this fruity profile to the extreme. This article starts with the terroir of the producing region, then provides a complete overview of the Red Cherry Plan's background, operating mechanism, and quality requirements. It then focuses on Front Street Yirgacheffe Red Cherry G1, covering green bean analysis, roasting curves, and cupping notes, and finally includes V60 pour-over parameter adjustments and flavor comparisons. Whether you are a beginner just getting into specialty coffee or an enthusiast who wants to understand the logic behind sun-dried bean processing, you will gain a systematic understanding of this bean and practical brewing references.

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Front Street Yirgacheffe occupies a pivotal position in Ethiopia's specialty coffee landscape, and it is also a classic choice that Front Street recommends to beginners. Front Street Yirgacheffe usually has two routes, washed and sun-dried, and this Front Street Yirgacheffe Red Cherry that this article focuses on follows the sun-dried route. It is precisely because of the sun-dried process that Front Street Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe stands out even more in body and layering. Coffee produced from this land of Yirgacheffe contains almost every kind of fruit aroma you can imagine, with a ripe-fruit mouthfeel and a pleasant interplay of acidity and sweetness, while bitterness is extremely hard to detect. It drinks like a cup of fruit tea. Front Street Yirgacheffe Red Cherry with sun-dried processing brings this trait out even more thoroughly: the dry aroma is full of intense dried-fruit notes, with the sweetness of strawberry, mango, and apricot jam blending together to form an olfactory experience like compound fruit preserves. Why can the sun-dried method give beans such complex aroma and layering? The story behind this deserves careful examination.

Producing Region Introduction

Unique Geographical Environment

Yirga cheffe is a small town in Ethiopia, with an altitude between 1,700 and 2,100 meters. It is one of the highest coffee-producing regions in the world and also an iconic symbol of Ethiopian specialty coffee. Lake Turkana, Lake Abaya, and Lake Chamo together deliver abundant moisture to this land. The rift valley area represented by the Misty Valley is shrouded in fog all year round, with a mild, spring-like climate in all four seasons and constant breezes. The cool and humid climate allows thousands of coffee trees to grow luxuriantly here, and it also creates the unique terroir charm of Front Street Yirgacheffe, where floral and fruity aromas interweave and remain ever-changing.

At first, coffee trees in Yirgacheffe were introduced and planted by European monastic scholars (similar to how Belgian monks grew wheat to brew beer), and later management shifted to farmers or cooperatives. Coffee trees are naturally scattered among forests, fields, and backyards. Every harvest season, the Ethiopian coffee trading company goes to the town to purchase coffee beans from farmers, and finally auctions and exports them under the brand of “Yirgacheffe”.

About the Red Cherry Plan

When it comes to the “Red Cherry Plan,” many friends are no strangers to the name, but if asked to explain clearly what kind of project it actually is, probably only a few can do so.

What is the “Red Cherry Plan”?

The "Red Cherry Plan" (ORC) is a project aimed at improving the coffee quality of small-scale farms. In 2007, Trabocca, the largest green bean trader in the Netherlands, launched the “Red Cherry Plan” in pursuit of high-quality Ethiopian coffee. The plan requires that only fully red cherries be selected when picking coffee cherries, and that the entire harvest be done by hand, but this is only the most basic entry requirement. The full picture of the plan goes far beyond this. Its core purpose is to incentivize coffee farmers while also bringing surprises to roasters. Before the harvest season arrives, Trabocca, the largest coffee bean trader in the Netherlands, invites all partner farms in Ethiopia to produce small batches of about 1,500 to 3,000 kilograms (25 to 50 bags) for them. During picking, women are responsible only for selecting fully 100% ripe red cherries. This has an extremely significant impact on the final coffee flavor, so Ethiopian women with good eyesight and a willingness to endure hardship have become an important driving force behind the Red Cherry Plan.

The Red Cherry Plan is also a form of intensification, pushing farms to invest more thought into sorting and selecting beans, and the prices of these coffees are naturally relatively higher. Red Cherry actions cover multiple processing methods including washed, sun-dried, semi-washed, semi-sun-dried, and experimental coffees. The main producing regions include Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Bonga Forest, Lekempti, Kembata, Illubabor, Harar, and Limu. In 2011, the Golocha production area (near Harar) was also added. These producing areas each have unique flavors and can fully demonstrate the diversity of Ethiopian coffee. After Trabocca receives the coffee, it screens it again, and through cupping quality tests in both the Ethiopian and Dutch offices, farms that meet the standard receive substantial bonuses. Trabocca, the promoter of the Red Cherry Plan, has invested all the profits earned in recent years into partner farms and emphasizes that this is a plan with no profit-seeking motive. The company executes the Red Cherry Plan with only a 4-person team (including the boss and secretary), while the remaining administrative affairs are supported by the parent company to reduce expenses, with all profits returned to partner farms.

Trabocca is the largest coffee bean trader in the Netherlands and has deep ties with Ethiopia. The company's founder, Menno Simons, initially knew almost nothing about coffee, until a trip to Ethiopia, where he was accidentally struck by the unique taste of local heirloom coffee beans. The company also trades other primary agricultural products such as cocoa and various fresh fruits. It is committed to finding high-quality raw materials, focuses on environmental protection, and cares about farmers' lives. The company's vision is “Discover, Develop, Deliver.” Since founding the company, Menno Simons has visited coffee-producing regions, estates, and processing plants throughout Ethiopia to discover coffee bean varieties with all kinds of fascinating flavors, and the “Red Cherry Plan” was born from this.

First, the cupping score requirement is extremely high. In the cupping rooms in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Trabocca screens again after receiving coffee shipped from the producing areas, and judges whether the coffee beans meet the standard through two cuppings in the two locations. Coffee beans that meet the standard are then auctioned by Trabocca to coffee bean buyers around the world. Usually, coffee beans auctioned through this platform can fetch more than 4 times the international general spot price for coffee, and at the highest even 20 times. Second, the production requirement is small-batch and the quality requirement is high. In order to have enough energy to care for these top Ethiopian beans, Trabocca stipulates that beans participating in the plan must be small batches, with output of about 1,500 kg to 3,000 kg.

Finally, Trabocca's investment in and attention to this project are extremely high. Trabocca has donated new sun-drying racks, shade nets, generators, and other equipment locally, while also providing financial loan support, new hardware equipment, and production-processing knowledge and technology to help farmers improve their production level. In addition, through real-time monitoring and safe transportation, it ensures that the beans of the “Red Cherry Plan” receive the best care at every stage. Specifically, the Red Cherry Plan encourages coffee farmers to carry out each step, including coffee cherry picking and processing, more carefully by raising the purchase price of high-quality green coffee beans. The coffee beans produced in this way are of better quality and taste better, and can gain better recognition in the end market, thereby balancing the relatively higher coffee purchase price.

Processing Method

This sun-dried Front Street Yirgacheffe Red Cherry coffee has slightly larger beans and slightly lower density and moisture content. Every coffee from this processing plant can be regarded as high-quality, finely processed coffee, and its displayed characteristics are superior to other coffees. Regardless of which processing method is used, the coffee beans here can be considered a high-quality representative of the Yirga region. After the processing plant screens the usable coffee cherries, it places the whole coffee cherries with the flesh and skin completely retained on raised beds for sun-drying. It is precisely this raised-bed drying method, which requires intensive human labor, that isolates the cherries from contact with the ground, prevents earthy off-flavors during sun-drying, and creates an exceptionally clean fruit flavor. After more than two weeks of sun-drying, the dark brown coffee fruits are professionally stored and left for the overall flavor to mature. Only before shipment does the processing plant remove the coffee beans from the coffee cherries, so the sweetness can be imagined.

Green Bean Analysis

About Yirgacheffe Grading

According to different green coffee bean processing methods, Yirgacheffe can be divided into two major categories:

Category A is the washed processing method. The grading standards are set 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 distinct style, and the flavor of citrus and floral notes fused into the coffee liquid is a deliciousness no one can resist;

Category B is green coffee beans processed by the sun-dried method, with grades divided into Gr-1, Gr-3, Gr-4, and Gr-5. Likewise, the highest grade, Front Street G1 Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe, is rich in fruit aroma. Opening a bag of freshly roasted Front Street G1 Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe coffee can overturn everyone's original understanding of coffee. Only those who have tasted the highest-grade Front Street Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe will believe that coffee is a fruit.

Exported in ordinary jute bags, with Trabocca printed on the jute bags

The variety of Front Street Yirgacheffe is a local heirloom variety, a small-bean type, relatively round in appearance, with a very small bean body, mostly between 14-15 screen size. The green beans are yellow-green in color, which is typical of sun-dried coffee. The beans are even and plump, with few defective beans

FrontStreet Coffee Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Roasting Analysis

A bean with such a brilliant flavor is of course not suitable for medium-dark roasting, so this coffee is intended to use a light, slow roasting method, which best reflects its rounded sweetness and rich floral and fruity aromas. This Front Street Sun-Dried Red Cherry coffee has relatively small beans and low moisture content, absorbs a relatively large amount of heat during roasting, and undergoes the Maillard reaction relatively quickly.

In the first roast, I dropped the beans at a relatively high temperature. Before the coffee beans dehydrated and turned yellow, I used 160 power to ensure there was enough heat to continue until first crack and develop directly to second crack, confirming the curve development. In the second, third, and fourth roasts, the same bean drop temperature of 200 and the same power were used, and during roasting the power was gradually reduced as needed.

This roast is a fast-roasted light roast:

FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Red Cherry

Cupping Records

Roast one: strawberry , raspberry, vanilla, honeydew, juicy

Roast Curve 2: Strawberry, raspberry, vanilla, honey, fruit juice

Roast two: manguo, black brin , , citrus juicy

Roast Curve 3: Mango, black plum, blueberry, citrus juice

Roast three : citrus juicy , cream

Roast Curve 3: Citrus juice, cream

FrontStreet Coffee Sun-Dried Red Cherry Roaster Yangjia 600g Semi-Direct Fire

Using a fast-roast mode, charge when the drum temperature reaches 200°C, set the airflow to 3.5, and after 1 minute adjust the power to 160 while keeping the airflow unchanged. At 148°C, adjust the power once, lowering it to 130. Roast until 5'03", at 151°C, when the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and dehydration is complete. Adjust the power to 105 and open the airflow to 4; at the 8th minute, ugly wrinkles and dark streaks appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of the first crack. At 9'07", first crack begins. Reduce the power to 70 and open the airflow fully (adjusting the power must be very careful, not so low that there is no crack sound). Drop at 194°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Sun-Dried Red Cherry Cupping Results

The dry aroma of Front Street Yirgacheffe gives off an intense fruit fragrance, with heavy dried-fruit notes and aromas of strawberry, mango, and apricot jam. The wet aroma is like sweet syrup, like thick apricot pulp juice wrapped in rustic honey or chocolate. On the palate it is not intense, with medium body and unobvious acidity, yet it is lively and bright, like fruity black tea.

Front Street Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Red Cherry G1

Region: Yirgacheffe

Processing Plant: Aratland

Altitude: 2,300 meters

Variety: Local heirloom

Processing Method: Sun-dried processing

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Analysis

As for the brewing method, pour-over and siphon are the best. When grinding the beans, you can already smell the pungent sun-dried fruit aroma, with obvious sweetness. Gentle and refined, sweet and lovely. Front Street Yirgacheffe gives off an extremely complex aroma and displays an exceptionally excellent mouthfeel that is hard to describe.

First Brew:

V60 dripper, 15 grams of grounds, water temperature 90°C, grind size 4, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15. Bloom with 31 grams of water, bloom time 29s. Stages: pour to 99ml and stop, then slowly pour to 230ml, that is 31-99-100

Flavor Description: Strawberry acidity is obvious, with astringency in the finish and some off-flavors

Adjust grind size 4 -- 3.5 (finer), lower water temperature

Second Brew (Revised):

V60 dripper, 15 grams of grounds, water temperature 86°C, grind size 3.5, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15, bloom with 27 grams of water, bloom time 28s, stages: 27-105-88, time 1:50 (timing starts at bloom)

Flavor Description: The wet aroma of ripe berry fermented fruit wine makes it hard to believe this is Yirgacheffe, but personally I do not like this wet aroma very much. However, from the extremely smooth entry to the delicate body, and the surge of ripe fruit sweetness and acidity, it is truly stunning. The sweetness exceeds that of any Yirgacheffe I have drunk before. The finish is also quite good. It truly deserves to be called a “fruit bomb.” After drinking, you can basically still feel sweetness in your mouth for half an hour.

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.