What Do Ethiopia's Numbered Coffee Trees Mean?

Ethiopia's 74 series gets its name from selections classified as 1974/1975 CBD-resistant material, found while breeders searched for coffee trees with natural disease resistance rather than relying on chemical spraying. The codes cover 741 and 75227 from Gera, 74110, 74112, 74140, 74148, 74158, and 74165 from Metu-bishari, 744, 7440, 7454, and 7487 from Washi, and 754 from Wush Wush.

In these numbers, 74 or 75 marks the year of discovery and the rest are individual codes. Some varieties stayed obscure for years; 74165, which later won a championship, was submitted by a grower who did not know its identity until the association verified the plants. Front Street Sidamo SantaVini 74158 shows what a 96-hour anaerobic natural process brings to the cup.

In the coffee world, some varieties are not known by familiar names like Bourbon or Typica, but by seemingly mysterious number codes, such as Ethiopia's 74 series starting with 7. Where did they come from, and what do the numbers mean? This article traces the background of these disease-resistant varieties, explains the meanings of codes like 741, 74110, 74158, and 74165, and focuses on Front Street Coffee's Sidamo SantaVini 74158, sharing the flavor profile and pour-over parameters brought by its 96-hour anaerobic natural process, helping coffee lovers understand the stories behind numbered varieties and their charm in the cup.

Among the tens of thousands of coffee varieties worldwide, some names stand out as particularly distinctive. They lack traditional titles like Bourbon or Typica, and instead present themselves like agent code names, with a string of numbers. For example, those named with letters and numbers include Kenya's SL28 and SL34, as well as Costa Rica's H1 and F1. When it comes to purely numeric combinations, many people first think of Ethiopia's series of varieties starting with 7. What exactly do these numbers mean? It's worth exploring.

Once coffee trees are infected by diseases, coffee farmers often suffer severe losses. To combat these diseases, people began spraying chemical agents. Although they can provide some suppression, they are ultimately palliative measures and cannot solve the problem at the root. Thus, a variety replacement plan was put on the agenda, with the goal of finding varieties that are naturally endowed with strong disease resistance.

Subsequently, JARC classified these beans as "1974/1975 CBD-Resistant Selections," specifically including: 741 and 75227 from the Gera region; 74110, 74112, 74140, 74148, 74158, and 74165 from the Metu-bishari region; 744, 7440, 7454, and 7487 from the Washi region; and 754 from the Wush Wush region. Among these, 74/75 represents the year of discovery, and the following numbers are their respective codes.

However, initially, this series was not only little known abroad, but even Ethiopians themselves were not very clear about their origins. For example, 74165, which later won a championship, was submitted by its grower without knowing it was 74165, and it was only confirmed as the 74165 variety after the association verified the plants.

So what does 74-series coffee taste like? In Front Street Coffee's own roasted bean list, there is a numbered variety bean—SantaVini from the Sidamo region, variety 74158. The 96-hour anaerobic natural process gives this bean an extremely intense floral aroma and fruity sweetness and acidity. Below, Front Street Coffee demonstrates how to brew its spectacular flavors.

Front Street Coffee: Ethiopia Sidamo SantaVini 74158 Coffee Beans

Country: Ethiopia

Grade: G1

Region: Sidamo

Processing Station: DWD SantaVini Processing Station

Altitude: 2050 meters

Processing Method: Fully ripe red cherries 96-hour anaerobic natural

Variety: 74158

Flavor: Citrus, pineapple, guava, red wine finish

Considering that this Front Street Coffee bean is lightly roasted and the beans are relatively hard, hot water at 92°C-93°C is needed to fully release the floral and fruity notes. As for grind size, Front Street recommends a medium-fine grind (80% passing through a Chinese standard No. 20 sieve); if too coarse, it will not extract a rich sweetness, and the brewed coffee can easily taste thin. For the brewing ratio, Front Street believes 1:15 to 1:16 both work. If you want a richer mouthfeel, use 1:15; if you want to experience the floral sweetness more clearly, use 1:16 to let the flavors open up more.

Dripper: V60 Water temperature: 92-93 °C

Dose: 15g Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15 Grind size: fine granulated sugar size (80% through a No. 20 sieve)

Three-stage pouring: First, wet the coffee bed with twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds, and after it forms a dome, let it bloom for 30 seconds. Then, pour in a small stream in circles from the inside outward, pausing at 125g. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the height of the dripper, then pour the third stage with the same fine stream until 225g. Once all the coffee liquid has filtered through, remove the dripper. Total time is about 2 minutes.

Tasting the brewed 74158, Front Street Coffee can feel its rich layers. On entry, there are aromas of dried mango, strawberry, and black tea, with especially prominent sweetness; after the temperature drops slightly, a clear orange-like juiciness emerges, with a relatively short finish. Even when fully cooled, the fruity notes remain vivid and there is almost no bitterness, making for a very pleasant taste experience.

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