Why Did This Yirgacheffe Aricha Natural G1 Win TOH?

The Yirgacheffe Aricha Natural G1 comes from the Adorsi processing station and took first place in the natural group of the 2019 Ethiopian harvest season cupping competition with 91 points. That is three points above the 88 scored a year earlier. Yirgacheffe itself sits between 1700 and 2100 meters, among the highest coffee origins anywhere, with floral and fruity aromas that shift from cup to cup.

The station belongs to Testi Coffee, an exporter run by the Yonis family and founded in 2009 by Faysel A. Yonis. Taste of Harvest is organized by the African Fine Coffees Association across seven member countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and the Republic of the Congo, and works like the Cup of Excellence. The lot is a washed-style natural Heirloom landrace in G1 grade.

Yirgacheffe, as a signature origin of Ethiopian specialty coffee, has always drawn attention to its natural process lots. This article focuses on the Yirgacheffe Aricha Natural G1 launched by Front Street Coffee. This lot comes from the Adorsi processing station and won first place in the natural group of the 2019 Ethiopian harvest season cupping competition, with a score as high as 91 points. The article will guide you through the terroir of Yirgacheffe, the background of the Adorsi processing station, an overview of the TOH competition, and the varietal characteristics of the Heirloom landrace. It also breaks down in detail the five steps of the natural processing method and provides the complete product information and cupping flavor description for this bean.

Front Street Coffee Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry G1

Origin Introduction

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia, with an altitude between 1,700 and 2,100 meters. It is one of the highest coffee-producing origins in the world and also a signature name in Ethiopian specialty coffee. Lake Turkana, Lake Abaya, and Lake Chamo provide 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, gentle breezes, and a cool, humid atmosphere. Thousands of coffee trees grow luxuriantly here, creating the unique terroir charm of Front Street Yirgacheffe, where floral and fruity aromas intertwine, layered and ever-changing, and hard to pin down.

Adorsi Processing Station

The natural group champion of the 2019 Ethiopian harvest season cupping competition was taken by the Adorsi processing station. This processing station belongs to Testi Coffee, a coffee export company operated by the Yonis family and founded in 2009 by Faysel A. Yonis. In terms of competition performance, this champion lot scored 91 points, while last year Mudan scored 88 points in the same event, meaning Adorsi was 3 points higher this year.

T.O.H

Taste of Harvest (TOH), the "Harvest Season Flavor Cupping Competition," is organized by the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) among various African producing countries. It is similar in nature to the Cup of Excellence in Central and South America.

The competition currently has seven member countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and the Republic of the Congo. The competition is divided into two levels: regional competitions and the all-Africa competition. In the preliminary stage, lots scoring below 80 points in cupping are eliminated first. TOH aims to select the highest-quality green beans from each producing region. Domestic and international judges cup and score them according to the standards of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). This lot won the championship with this year's highest score of 88.58 points.

Variety Introduction

This Front Street Yirgacheffe bean belongs to a local landrace. People who often drink Ethiopian coffee should have heard of the name "Heirloom." Most varieties in Ethiopia are grouped under this name. The reason is that the number of varieties in Ethiopia is simply too vast; it is like a natural gene bank of Arabica. On the one hand, the varieties are so complex that identification and classification are extremely difficult. On the other hand, for protection considerations, the Ethiopian government is also unwilling to disclose specific information about these varieties, so they are collectively called "Heirloom."

Nearly 2,000 coffee varieties in Ethiopia have been recorded, of which 1,927 are native varieties and 128 are introduced foreign varieties. So judging by appearance alone, Ethiopian coffee varieties are like a "grand garden," with all kinds of shapes—long, short, thin, plump...

Processing Method

This Front Street Yirgacheffe coffee bean uses the natural process.

1. Harvest ripe coffee cherries.

2. Initially remove impurities and defective beans.

3. Screen floating beans: pour the coffee cherries into a water tank. Ripe, plump cherries will sink to the bottom, while immature or defective cherries will float to the surface.

4. Sun drying: scoop out the ripe coffee cherries that sank to the bottom of the tank and spread them on a drying yard for sun drying, reducing the moisture content from 70% to about 10% to 12%. They need to be turned multiple times each day so the cherries dry evenly, and at night they must be covered to prevent moisture damage.

5. Remove the outer shell: after about two to four weeks of sun drying, the outer layer of the coffee seeds has become dry and hard. At this point, use a hulling machine to remove the outer shell, and the process is complete.

Product Name: Front Street Coffee Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Natural G1

Origin: Yirgacheffe Adorsi Processing Station

Altitude: 1900-2000m

Processing Method: Natural

Grade: G1

Variety: Heirloom

Cupping Flavor: Grape juice, jackfruit, fermented wine aroma, citrus, lemon

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