What does red honey coffee processing mean at Idido?

The Idido Cooperative in Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe region produces high-altitude heirloom coffee using a red honey processing method. The lot comes from the cooperative's Red Cherry Plan, and Front Street has recorded its roast curve, cupping results and V60 brewing parameters for the coffee.

Idido is a member of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, founded in 2002 with 24 primary cooperatives serving about 50,000 farmers. Since Ethiopia's ECX system began in 2008, cooperatives have stayed outside it and can sell directly to buyers, which supports traceability and better returns for farmers.

Yirgacheffe is one of Ethiopia's most iconic specialty coffee regions, and its Idido Cooperative, with its high-altitude valley environment, heirloom variety advantages, and outstanding processing techniques, consistently produces astonishing coffee beans. This article starts with the cooperative's operational background, sorts out its relationship with the YCFCU union and its direct trade model, then focuses on the details of the Red Cherry Plan and the red honey processing method, and fully records Front Street Coffee's roasting curve, cupping performance, and V60 brewing parameters for this Yirgacheffe red honey processed Red Cherry, providing coffee enthusiasts with a comprehensive reference extending from origin to cup flavor.

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Since the implementation of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (EXC) system in 2008, the vast majority of green coffee beans have had to be sold through this platform by bidding. However, cooperatives are excluded from the jurisdiction of this system and can communicate directly with buyers, negotiate prices, and arrange exports. The original purpose of forming cooperatives was to help their member farmers escape losses caused by buyers driving down prices, while also providing loan support when farmers encounter financial difficulties. Whether for farmers' livelihoods or the coffee production process, this model has brought quite positive momentum.

Idido Cooperative

IDIDO

This cooperative is a member of the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (YCFCU). YCFCU was founded in 2002 and includes 24 primary cooperatives, serving about 50,000 farmers. Because cooperatives are currently not constrained by the ECX (Ethiopian Coffee Exchange) system for bulk coffee trading, buyers can select each batch of green beans according to their own preferences and quality requirements, and can trace detailed coffee records, such as region, grower, or producer information. Through this direct trade model, a closer connection is established between buyers and farmers. Farmers not only receive reasonable economic returns, but also have the opportunity to obtain material or financial assistance such as berry processing equipment and processing facility infrastructure, thereby producing better-quality coffee.

The Idido Cooperative is located in the high-altitude valleys of Yirgacheffe town, with annual rainfall of about 1,400 to 1,800 millimeters. Local smallholders grow coffee at an altitude of about 2,000 meters, and the cool mountain air allows the coffee to mature slowly under good soil conditions and ecosystems. Farmers complete the picking of ripe red cherries between December and February of the following year. Like other cooperatives, Idido has several quality conditions for producing top coffee: 1. High altitude 2. Excellent processing techniques 3. Nutrient-rich soil 4. Ethiopian heirloom varieties. Front Street found that thanks to such a superior geographical environment, the coffee beans produced here have a fascinating floral aroma, which can be said to be somewhat close to the characteristics of Geisha coffee.

Front Street Coffee — Yirgacheffe Red Honey Process Red Cherry

Region: Yirgacheffe Idido

Growing altitude: 2000-2200m

Processing method: Red honey process

Variety: Local heirloom varieties

Grade: G1

What is Red Cherry?

The "Operation Red Cherry" (ORC) is a project aimed at improving the quality of small-scale farms. In 2007, Trabocca, the largest green bean trader in the Netherlands, proposed the "Red Cherry Plan" in search of high-quality Ethiopian beans. This plan requires that when picking green coffee beans, not only fully red cherries be selected, but also that the entire process must be hand-picked. These fully red cherries are like ripe red cherries, hence they are called red cherry coffee cherries.

Trabocca, the largest coffee bean trader in the Netherlands, invites various farms in Ethiopia before the harvest season to produce small batches of about 1,500 to 3,000 kilograms (25 to 50 bags) of beans for them. During picking, women select only fully 100% ripe red cherries, which has a huge impact on the final brewed coffee flavor. Therefore, careful Ethiopian women with good eyesight and willingness to endure hardship have become an important force in the Red Cherry Plan. The Red Cherry Plan is also a strengthening measure that encourages farms to invest more effort in the sorting and selection stage, and the prices of these coffees are correspondingly higher.

One can imagine that fully ripe coffee cherries have very rich sugars in their pulp and mucilage. Through cupping, Front Street found that coffee beans produced under the Red Cherry Plan have a much more prominent sweetness than ordinarily harvested coffee beans, making them very suitable for sun-dried processing or honey processing to further enhance sweetness.

Red Honey Processing Method

Red Honey

Honey processing refers to the process of making green beans by sun-drying with mucilage still attached. After the outer pulp of the coffee bean is removed, a sticky gel-like layer remains. The traditional washed processing method uses clean water to wash it off, but because water resources are limited in some high-altitude origins, this direct drying method emerged.

The pectin mucilage portion is the part of the coffee cherry with the highest sugar content and is also an important stage in coffee processing fermentation. It can be said that this part determines 80% of the nutritional supply during processing. Yellow honey retains 60% of the pectin, red honey retains 75% of the pectin, and black honey removes almost no pectin. Front Street believes that red honey processed coffee beans have a smooth mouthfeel, like berry juice, and enhance the sweetness of the coffee beans.

Front Street Coffee Roasting Record

Front Street's roaster used a Yangjia 800N semi-direct fire, with a roasting amount of 550 grams. Charged at a drum temperature of 180°C, heat setting 130, airflow damper opened to 3; the turning point was 1'32", and when the drum temperature reached 146°C, the airflow damper was opened to 4 while the heat remained unchanged; when the drum temperature reached 149°C, the bean surface turned yellow, the grassy smell completely disappeared, and the dehydration stage began. When the drum temperature reached 166°C, the heat was adjusted to 110 and the airflow damper remained unchanged;

At 7'43", ugly wrinkles and dark streaks appeared on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly turned into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, it is necessary to listen clearly for the sound of the first crack. First crack began at 8'29", the airflow damper was opened to 5, development after first crack was 1'28, and the beans were dropped at 190°C.

Front Street Coffee Cupping Report

Front Street Coffee conducts cupping within 8-24 hours after roasting the sample coffee beans. The cupping bowl used has a capacity of 200 ml and is a ceramic bowl, with a water temperature of 94°C. The cupping grind size is 70%-75% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve (0.85 mm). Ratio: 11 grams of coffee grounds plus 200 milliliters of hot water, i.e. 1:18.18. The extracted concentration is then exactly within the golden cup range of 1.15%-1.35%, and the steeping time is 4 minutes.

The aroma just after grinding into powder has a fresh floral scent, like jasmine and ginger flower. After pouring in 94°C hot water, Front Street Coffee's barista smelled a fascinating jasmine aroma as well as the sweet fragrance of berry juice. After slurping, the entry first showed a bright citrus-like acidity, followed by a berry juice sensation, then the mouth was filled with the aroma of jasmine and ginger flower, and the finish left a honey-like sweetness and almond aroma on the tongue.

Front Street Coffee Brewing Notes

Dripper: V60 #01

Water temperature: 90-91 degrees

Coffee dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: medium-fine grind (80% passing a No. 20 sieve)

Front Street brewing method: First rinse the filter paper and preheat the dripper and coffee pot. Use 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour in a small stream in circles to 125 grams for a staged pour. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225 grams and stop pouring. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. (Timing starts at the beginning of the bloom.) The extraction time is 2'07".

Brewed flavor: It smells of ginger flower, and on the palate there is a sense of citrus, lemon, and fruit candy, with cedar aroma and honey sweetness in the middle, an oolong tea sensation in the finish, and a lingering creamy aftertaste.

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