Why Did a Yirgacheffe Coffee Win the 2019 TOH Natural Group?
A Yirgacheffe coffee submitted by the Adorsi processing station won the 2019 Taste of Harvest Ethiopia Natural Group with a cupping score of 91.38 points. The station sits in the Aricha region at 1,950 to 2,100 meters, where red volcanic soil and Ethiopian heirloom varieties combine with hand selection at 17-18 screen size and anaerobic fermentation.
Taste of Harvest is organized by the African Fine Coffees Association and held each harvest season across 12 coffee bean producing countries, with scoring done to Specialty Coffee Association of America standards. In the preliminary round, lots cupping below 80 points are eliminated before the top greens advance to national judging. The winning cup shows strawberry, berries, guava, brandy and liqueur chocolate.
The 2019 TOH (Taste of Harvest) Ethiopia Natural Group national champion was won by a Yirgacheffe coffee submitted by the Adorsi processing station, with a cupping score as high as 91.38 points. The station is located in the Aricha region, at an altitude of 1,950–2,100 meters, where red volcanic soil combines with the ancient heirloom variety, complemented by hand-selected 17–18 screen green beans and a precise anaerobic fermentation process, achieving this bean's outstanding cup performance. Front Street Coffee provides a detailed introduction to this champion bean's origin background, competition journey, and flavor characteristics, and shares its rich flavor profile of strawberry, berries, guava, brandy, and liqueur chocolate, as well as the changes in acidity and sweetness after cooling.
Front Street 2019 Ethiopian Green Bean Natural Group Champion Introduction
T.O.H (Taste of Harvest) is led by the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) and is a cupping competition held annually during the harvest season in 12 African coffee-producing countries, positioned similarly to the C.O.E Cup of Excellence competition.
The competition's selection mechanism is as follows: in the preliminary round, batches scoring below 80 points in cupping are eliminated first, and the best-quality green beans from each region are selected level by level to enter the national-level competition; then domestic and international judges cup and score them according to the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) standards, and the one with the highest score becomes that year's national champion.
This Front Street Yirgacheffe coffee bean from the Adorsi processing station stood out with a score of 91.38, defeating numerous competing batches to win the 2019 T.O.H Ethiopia Natural Group national championship.
The Adorsi processing station is located in the Aricha region of Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia, at an altitude between 1,950 and 2,100 meters, with red volcanic soil and an average annual temperature of about 23 degrees Celsius; the coffee variety is the long-established Ethiopian heirloom, all hand-picked, with green beans carefully selected at 17–18 screen size; the superior microclimate, ancient variety, and careful picking together lay the foundation for this bean's excellent cupping performance.
In the key step of green bean processing, the Adorsi processing station chose an anaerobic fermentation method that can be precisely controlled in multiple dimensions—injecting carbon dioxide into sealed stainless steel fermentation tanks and expelling oxygen, so that fermentation and decomposition proceed under oxygen-free conditions, while effectively managing factors such as the pH value, gas composition, humidity, temperature, and even the type and quantity of microorganisms involved in fermentation, thereby retaining more sweetness in the coffee fruit and developing a cleaner, more balanced flavor.
Product name: FrontStreet Coffee 2019 Ethiopian Green Bean Natural Group Champion
Origin: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Adorsi Area
Altitude: 1900-2000
Variety: Ethiopian heirloom
Processing station: Aricha
Processing method: Anaerobic fermentation natural
Roast level: Light
Flavor description: On the palate, it presents strawberry berries, guava, brandy, and liqueur chocolate; the flavor is very long-lasting in the mouth, and after cooling the acidity is bright; with continued cooling it shifts from liqueur chocolate to dark chocolate, with obvious sweetness. As a champion bean, it is well worth tasting.
Brief note: Front Street is a dedicated coffee research house, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation only so that more friends will fall in love with coffee, and every month there are 3 low-discount coffee events, because Front Street wants more friends to drink the best coffee at the lowest price—this has also been Front Street's purpose for 6 years!
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
