How Does Coffee Bean Processing Shape Yirgacheffe Cherry Red?
Front Street Yirgacheffe Cherry Red G1 comes from Yirgacheffe, a small Ethiopian town at 1,700 to 2,100 meters, one of the highest coffee-growing areas anywhere. The green coffee bean profile covers the region's terroir, the Operation Cherry Red project, the G1 grading standard, and how washed and natural lots differ in dry and wet aroma, cup flavor, roast curve, and V60 brewing.
Yirgacheffe trees were first planted by monastery monks and later managed by farmers and cooperatives, with cherries gathered during harvest and exported under the Yirgacheffe name. Coffee bean processing separates the two styles sold today: washed lots show cleaner citrus and floral notes, while natural lots carry deeper berry sweetness and heavier body, so roast and brew parameters need adjusting for each.
Yirgacheffe is one of the highest-altitude specialty coffee regions in the world, and also the origin with the strongest flavor identity in Ethiopia. This article focuses on Front Street Yirgacheffe Cherry Red G1, covering everything from the terroir of the region, the origin and investment of Operation Cherry Red, to the green bean appearance, cupping dry and wet aroma, and taste differences between washed and natural processing methods, and then to light roast curves and V60 brewing parameter adjustments, presenting a complete green bean profile of this coffee. Whether you want to understand the Yirgacheffe G1 grading standards, or want to know exactly how natural and washed Yirgacheffe differ in flavor, you can find the answers in this article.
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ETHIOPIA, YIRGACHEFFE, Cherry Red
Front Street Yirgacheffe Cherry Red G1
01 | Region Introduction
Unique Geographical Environment
Yirga Cheffe is a small town in Ethiopia, at an altitude of 1,700-2,100 meters. It is one of the highest-altitude coffee-producing regions in the world, and also synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee. Lake Turkana, Lake Abaya, and Lake Chamo bring abundant moisture here. In the rift valley represented by the Misty Valley, fog lingers all year round, it is like spring throughout the four seasons, with gentle breezes, cool and humid, and thousands of coffee trees thrive and multiply, nurturing the unique terroir of Front Street Yirgacheffe with its ambiguous interweaving of floral and fruity aromas and ever-changing character.
The Historical Origin of Yirgacheffe
At first, the coffee trees of Yirgacheffe were planted by European monastery monks (a bit like Belgian monks growing wheat to brew beer), and later this was taken over by farmers or cooperatives. Coffee trees are naturally scattered in forests, fields, and backyards. During the harvest season, the Ethiopian coffee trading company would go to the town to purchase coffee beans collected by farmers, and finally auction and export them under the brand "Yirgacheffe."
About Operation Cherry Red
When it comes to "Operation Cherry Red," many friends are no strangers to the name. But specifically, what kind of project is Operation Cherry Red? Probably only a few people can say.
In order to help Ethiopian coffee farmers obtain better income and improve local people's living standards, in 2007, a Dutch trader, Trabocca, together with farmers at the origin, launched the "OPERATION CHERRY RED PROJECT." It was purely to encourage farmers to improve coffee bean quality. At the start of the harvest season at the origin, Trabocca would designate harvest plans for microclimate plots, manually harvesting 100% ripe red coffee cherries, with output of about 1,500 kg-3,000 kg.
The Operation Cherry Red project invested US$5,000 in 2008 to purchase new sun-drying racks. In 2009, it invested another US$8,000 to purchase new sun-drying racks and shade nets. In 2010, it invested US$9,000 in a generator, and in 2011 continued to invest US$10,000 to improve some local coffee transport roads, making coffee transport more convenient and efficient. Trabocca provided interest-free loans to purchase new coffee cherry pulpers and coffee bean sorters. To facilitate supplier purchasing, it then invested US$14,000 in 2012 to build a high-quality Addis Ababa coffee cupping laboratory.
Trabocca provides financial loan support, new hardware equipment, and production-processing knowledge and technical assistance to help farmers raise their production level, promising that as long as the actual output quality meets the cupping standards in the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Amsterdam, Netherlands cupping rooms, it will purchase at a generous price. The passing standard set by Trabocca is 88 points.
After processing at the origin is completed, Operation Cherry Red coffee beans are immediately packed in plastic inner bags (GrainPro bags or vacuum boxes in separate bags), then transported to Djibouti to await shipping. Through real-time monitoring, safe transport, and timely and appropriate handling, it strives for perfect quality. Roasters can also buy high-quality coffee beans because of Operation Cherry Red, which also improves Ethiopian coffee quality and brings better prices. Trabocca can then return profits to farmers, continuously improve, and keep enhancing quality.
02 | Processing Methods
This Front Street naturally processed Yirgacheffe coffee has slightly larger beans, with slightly lower density and moisture content. Every coffee from this processing station can be considered a high-quality meticulously processed coffee, and its performance characteristics are superior to other coffees. Regardless of which processing method is used, the coffee beans here can be considered the best coffee in the Yirga region.
After the processing station screens usable coffee cherries, the coffee cherries with the whole pulp and skin kept intact are placed on raised beds for natural drying. It is precisely this raised-bed drying method, which requires intensive manual labor, that isolates the beans from contact with the ground, prevents musty off-flavors during sun drying, and creates an exceptionally clean fruit flavor. After more than two weeks of sun drying, the dark brown coffee fruit is professionally stored, waiting for the full flavor to mature. Only before shipment does the processing station remove the coffee beans from the coffee cherries. You can imagine the sweetness.
03 | 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 standard is 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 distinctive style, and the flavor of citrus and floral notes blended into the coffee liquid is a deliciousness no one can resist.
Category B is naturally processed green coffee beans, with grades divided into Gr-1, Gr-3, Gr-4, and Gr-5. Likewise, the highest grade Front Street G1 natural Yirgacheffe is rich in fruity aroma. Opening a bag of freshly roasted Front Street G1 natural Yirgacheffe coffee can overturn everyone's original understanding of coffee. Only those who have tasted the highest-grade Front Street natural Yirgacheffe will believe that coffee is a fruit.
Difference One
Two Different Green Bean Processing Methods:
After harvesting, coffee beans must immediately enter the processing procedure, otherwise they will begin to ferment and produce off-flavors. There are two processing methods: "natural" and "washed." These two methods create different flavors.
Naturally processed beans have a complete natural mellow flavor, gentle aroma, and more body; washed beans have good mellowness, high aroma, and lively acidity.
Natural/Dried-in-the-Fruit:
After picking, the fruit begins the sun-drying process without processing. This is the oldest existing processing method. The drying process usually lasts about 4 weeks. The handling method must be very rigorous to ensure the coffee does not lose any flavor. The natural sun-drying method requires an extremely dry local climate. In some regions, people use dryers to assist the coffee fruit drying process (the hot air from the dryer can accelerate drying and help people control the degree of drying).
Fully Washed:
Washing and fermentation are used to remove the skin, pulp, and mucilage. Farms using the washed method must build washing channels and be able to introduce a continuous supply of fresh water. During processing, the fermented beans are placed in the channel and moved back and forth, using the friction of the beans and the force of flowing water to wash the coffee beans until smooth and clean.
After washing, at this point the coffee beans are still wrapped in parchment, with a moisture content of 50%, and must be dried to reduce moisture content to 12%, otherwise they will continue to ferment and become moldy and spoiled.
A better processing method is to use sunlight drying. Although it takes 1-3 weeks, the flavor is especially good and quite popular.
Difference Two:
Coffee Bean Appearance
Green beans: generally washed green beans are blue-green, while natural green beans are yellow-green.
Roasted beans: washed Yirgacheffe has more silver skin, natural Yirgacheffe has less silver skin.
Difference Three: Difference in Taste
Difference in Dry Aroma:
Cupping: [Use a ratio of 8 grams of grounds to 150 ml of 94°C hot water in a cup, let the coffee steep for 3-4 minutes, until a coffee grounds crust forms.]
Front Street natural Yirgacheffe: light fermented wine aroma, spice aroma.
Front Street washed Yirgacheffe: jasmine floral aroma, lemon or lime acidity.
Difference in Taste:
Front Street natural Yirgacheffe: natural processing is a bit complex, with light fermented wine aroma, a heavier bitter-roasted note, and a much richer mouthfeel, honey sweetness, cocoa notes with some spice, a thick body, and a long finish.
Front Street washed Yirgacheffe: the acidity of washed processing is brighter, like citric acid, with a fresher taste, more obvious citrus aroma, and some black tea note in the aftertaste.
Similarities: both have fruity acidity, similar to fruits such as lemon and citrus.
Export is in ordinary burlap bags, printed on the burlap with Trabocca
Front Street Yirgacheffe itself is a local heirloom variety, small-bean variety, relatively round in shape, with a very small bean body, mostly between 14-15 screen size.
Yirgacheffe Cherry Red Grade 1 green beans are yellow-green in color, the typical color of natural coffee, with uniform and plump beans and few defective beans.
04 | Roasting Analysis
Beans with such a splendid flavor are of course not suitable for medium-dark roasting, so this coffee is intended to use a light, slow roasting method to best reflect its round and sweet characteristics, with rich floral and fruity aromas.
This coffee's beans are relatively small, and the moisture content means it also absorbs a relatively large amount of heat during roasting, and the Maillard reaction process is also relatively fast.
In the first roast, I dropped the beans at a relatively high temperature. Before the coffee beans dehydrated and turned yellow, I used 160 heat power to ensure there was enough heat to continue to first crack, directly develop to second crack, and determine the curve development.
In the second, third, and fourth roasts, the same bean charging temperature of 200 and the same heat power were used, and during roasting the heat power was gradually reduced as needed.
This batch is a fast-roasted light roast:
Cupping:
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
Roaster Yangjia 600g semi-direct fire
Using fast-roast mode, charge when the roaster temperature reaches 200°C, set airflow to 3.5, after 1 minute adjust heat power to 160°C, keep airflow unchanged, adjust heat power once at 148°C, lower to 130°C, roast until 5'03", temperature 151°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration is complete, adjust heat power to 105°C, open airflow to 4;
At the 8th minute, ugly wrinkles and dark spots 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, you must listen clearly to the sound of the first crack point. At 9'07", first crack begins, reduce heat power to 70°C, open airflow fully (adjusting heat power must be very careful, not so low that there is no cracking sound), and drop at 194°C.
The dry aroma of Front Street Yirgacheffe gives off an intense fruity fragrance, with a heavy dried-fruit note, and aromas of strawberry, mango, and apricot jam.
The wet aroma is like sweet syrup, like thick apricot fruit pulp, wrapped in rustic honey or chocolate. On the palate it is not intense, with medium body, and the acidity is not obvious but lively and bright, like fruity black tea.
04 | Brewing Analysis
The Flavor of Front Street Yirgacheffe
Brewing Method
As for the brewing method, pour-over and siphon are the best. When grinding the beans, you can already smell the pungent natural fruity aroma, with obvious sweetness.
Gentle and graceful, sweet and lovely. Front Street Yirgacheffe gives off an extremely complex aroma and displays an exceptionally outstanding taste, hard to describe.
First brew: V60 dripper, 15 grams of grounds, water temperature 90°C, grind setting 4, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15
31 grams of water for blooming, bloom time 29s
Stages: pour to 99 ml, pause, then slowly pour to 230 ml
That is 31-99-100
Taste: obvious strawberry acidity, astringent in the tail, with off-flavors
Adjust grind setting 4 -- 3.5 (finer), lower water temperature
Second brew (revised): V60 dripper, 15 grams of grounds, water temperature 86°C, grind setting 3.5,
water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15
27 grams of water for blooming, bloom time 28s
Stages: 27-105-88, time 1:50 (start timing at blooming)
Taste: smooth, much richer flavor, with layering, and enhanced fermented berry sweetness
The wet aroma of the finished cup, with ripe berry fermented fruit wine notes, makes it hard to believe this is Front Street Yirgacheffe, but personally I do not like this wet aroma very much. However, from the extremely smooth entry, to the delicate body, to the emergence of ripe fruit sweet-acidity, it is truly stunning. The sweetness exceeds any Yirgacheffe I have drunk before. The finish is also quite good, worthy of the name "fruit bomb." After drinking, it can basically be guaranteed that sweetness remains in the mouth for half an hour.
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
