Why does cherry ripeness decide coffee bean seeds quality?

The Red Cherry Project, known as Operation Cherry Red, was started by Trabocca, a large Dutch green coffee trader. Partner farms in Ethiopia pick only fully ripe red cherries, which local women hand-sort, and only lots scoring 88 or above in cupping are selected. Ripeness at harvest is the base condition for specialty coffee quality.

Each batch runs roughly 1,500 to 3,000 kilograms, about 25 to 50 bags, produced in small lots before the harvest season. Front Street Coffee's Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry comes from this program, and its floral and fruity sweetness can be brewed at home using a strawberry dripper or an origami dripper with matching parameters.

In the specialty coffee world, the ripeness of coffee cherries directly determines the quality performance in the final cup. The Front Street Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry introduced by Front Street Coffee is a select lot from Ethiopia's "Operation Cherry Red" program. This program was initiated by Trabocca, the largest green coffee trader in the Netherlands, requiring partner farms to harvest only 100% ripe red cherries, which are then hand-sorted by local women with good eyesight and willingness to work hard, and only those scoring 88 or above in cupping can be selected. This article will guide you through the origins and operations of Operation Cherry Red, and share Front Street Coffee's brewing parameters and flavor performance using two different devices: the strawberry dripper and the origami dripper, helping coffee enthusiasts replicate this bean's floral and fruity sweetness at home.

To achieve a cup of specialty coffee, the prerequisite is that the coffee cherries themselves reach a fully ripe state. If the quality of the fruit cannot be guaranteed, specialty coffee is out of the question. The Front Street Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry introduced by Front Street Coffee is precisely a bean that meets this standard, originating from a specialty coffee project called "Operation Cherry Red," whose core demand is to have coffee farmers harvest only fully ripe coffee cherries, ensuring quality from the source. This project was initiated by the largest green coffee trader in the Netherlands, and it has both significance and a story behind it. Let's explore its essence together with Front Street.

Operation Cherrie Red (ORC) is a project aimed at improving the quality of small-scale farms, with the main goal of incentivizing bean farmers while bringing surprises to roasters. Trabocca, the largest coffee bean trader in the Netherlands, invites all its partner farms in Ethiopia to produce small batches of beans before the harvest season arrives, each batch about 1,500 to 3,000 kilograms (i.e., 25 to 50 bags). Only women are allowed to pick 100% fully ripe red cherries during harvesting, which greatly influences the final brewed coffee flavor. Therefore, those meticulous, sharp-eyed, and hardworking Ethiopian women have become indispensable driving forces behind Operation Cherry Red.

Operation Cherry Red also serves as a strengthening measure, encouraging farms to invest more effort in the screening and bean selection processes, and these coffees naturally command relatively higher prices. Operation Cherry Red encompasses various processing methods such as washed, natural, semi-washed, semi-natural, and experimental coffees, with main production areas including Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Bonga Forest, Lekempti, Kembata, Illubabor, Harar, Limu, and the newly added Golocha production area in 2011 (near Harar), among others. These regions each have unique flavors that fully showcase the personality of Ethiopian beans. After receiving the coffee, Trabocca conducts a second screening, with cupping performed separately by offices in Ethiopia and the Netherlands. Farms that meet the standards can receive substantial bonuses, and only those with a cupping score of 88 or above can become coffees recognized by Operation Cherry Red. Trabocca, the driving force behind Operation Cherry Red, has invested all profits from recent years back into partner farms. Trabocca emphasizes that this is a non-profit project, so the company operates Operation Cherry Red with only a 4-person team (including the boss and secretary), with the rest of the administrative work supported by the parent company to reduce costs, and all profits are returned to partner farms.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Natural Red Cherry Brewing Sharing

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Yirgacheffe Front Street Natural Red Cherry

Region: Yirgacheffe

Altitude: 2000-2200m

Processing Method: Natural

Variety: Local Heirloom

Grade: G1

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Natural Red Cherry Strawberry Dripper

The inner ribs of the strawberry dripper are dotted in distribution, looking much like the small seeds on a strawberry's surface, and the bottom hole is relatively small, so the flow rate is somewhat slow, helping to increase the extraction yield.

After fitting with filter paper, the dripper and paper do not fit tightly due to the many protrusions. Water can pass through the filter paper and drain out through the gaps between the protrusions, preventing over-extraction. At the same time, these protrusions can adsorb fine particles, making them adhere to the upper edge of the cup wall, while the main particles soaking at the bottom are relatively coarser grinds. Thus, while enhancing the extraction yield, it greatly reduces the possibility of over-extraction.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Parameters & Technique: 15g dose; medium-fine grind (BG 6T: 58% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve); water temperature 90°C, ratio 1:15; bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds, pour in a small stream at the center to 120g, and when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 226g, then remove the dripper when the water level is about to expose the bed again. (Start timing from the beginning of blooming.) Total extraction time is 1'50".

Flavor: Floral aroma on the nose, citrus and sweet orange acidity on the palate, and as it cools, honey and dried fruit sweetness emerge.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Natural Red Cherry Origami Dripper

The origami dripper has many deep vertical grooves along its edges and a large outlet hole at the bottom, so the flow rate is relatively fast. The ceramic material of the origami dripper performs relatively well in terms of heat conductivity and insulation.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) this time chose a conical filter paper for brewing. Since the conical filter paper tapers gradually, the coffee bed is thicker in the middle and thinner around the edges; combined with the poor fit between the conical filter paper and the dripper, the coffee grounds degas more smoothly during brewing, and if the water level is high, water easily flows away through the gap between the paper and the dripper.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Parameters & Technique: 15g dose; medium-fine grind (BG 6T: 58% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve); water temperature 90°C, ratio 1:15; bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds, pour in a small stream at the center to 120g, and when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 226g, then remove the dripper when the water level is about to expose the bed again. (Start timing from the beginning of blooming.) Total extraction time is 1'55".

Flavor: Citrus and lemon acidity on the palate, sandalwood aroma, honey sweetness.

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