How Does the Coffee Association of America Grade Yirgacheffe?
Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe Aricha G1 is a washed lot graded under standards set by the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Washed Yirgacheffe runs Gr-1 and Gr-2, while natural lots run Gr-1, Gr-3, Gr-4 and Gr-5; lower numbers mean higher grades. Aricha G1 is one of the cleaner washed examples, with citrus and floral notes.
For pour-over, 15g of medium-fine coffee at a Fuji ghost tooth setting of 3.5, a V60 dripper and 91-93°C water work well. Pour 30g for a 27-second bloom, add water to 105g, wait until the bed drops halfway, then pour slowly to 225g and discard the tail end. The ratio is 1:15 with about 2:00 extraction; the ingredient list is simply home-roasted beans.
Yirgacheffe is one of Ethiopia's most iconic specialty coffee regions, and the Aricha G1 washed lot is among its finest examples. This article will begin with green bean processing methods and grade classification, systematically sorting out the grading logic under SCAA standards for the two major categories of washed and natural, and will focus on the origin background of Aricha G1, information about the processing station, and the sourcing philosophy of Project Origin. At the same time, we will also share a set of practically verified pour-over brewing parameters, along with Front Street Coffee's product specifications, to help coffee enthusiasts fully understand the flavor sources and brewing key points of this bean.
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Yirgacheffe is divided into two major categories according to different green coffee processing methods:
Category A is the washed processing method, with grade standards set by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), divided into Gr-1 and Gr-2. The smaller the Arabic numeral, the higher the grade. G1 Yirgacheffe has a distinctive style, with citrus notes and floral aromas integrated into the coffee liquid, a flavor that no one can resist;
Category B is the natural processing method for green coffee beans, with grades divided into Gr-1, Gr-3, Gr-4, and Gr-5. Likewise, the highest grade G1 natural Yirgacheffe is rich in fruity aroma. Opening a bag of freshly roasted G1 natural Yirgacheffe can overturn everyone's original understanding of coffee. Only those who have tasted the highest grade natural Yirgacheffe will believe that coffee is a fruit..
Pour-over Yirgacheffe. 15g coffee powder, medium-fine grind (Fuji ghost tooth burr at 3.5), V60 dripper, water temperature 91–93°C, first pour 30g of water, bloom for 27 seconds, pour until 105g of water then stop, wait for the water level in the coffee bed to drop halfway before pouring again, slowly pour until 225g of water, discard the tail end, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00
Factory name: Coffee Workshop FrontStreet Coffee Factory address: No. 10 Baoqian Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City Manufacturer contact: 020-38364473 Ingredients list: home-roasted Shelf life: 90 Net content: 227g Packaging method: bulk coffee beans Roast level: roasted coffee beans Contains sugar: no sugar Origin: Ethiopia Roast level: light roast
Processing method: washed
The happy coffee farmers first pick the coffee cherries from the trees, then pour them into a pool filled with water. Because coffee cherries at different stages of ripeness have different densities, overripe and underripe coffee cherries along with some branches and leaves will float on the surface, while sufficiently ripe coffee cherries will sink to the bottom. Naturally, in this way, a portion of coffee cherries that pass the first hurdle are selected.
The selected ripe coffee cherries then enter the pulping machine to remove the skin and pulp;
Next, the green coffee beans with residual pulp and mucilage enter the fermentation stage (fermenting through interaction with microorganisms in the water or in the air); after fermentation is complete, the fruit with the parchment layer enters the washing channel to be rinsed clean; after rinsing clean comes the drying stage. During the drying stage, the moisture content of the green coffee beans is kept at around 12% as much as possible, and then they are put into burlap sacks and left to rest for about 2–3 months of green bean resting, in order to make the green bean quality more stable. Finally, after removing the parchment layer, they can be sold!
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Aricha G1 Washed
Country: Ethiopia
Grade: G1
Region: Yirgacheffe Gediyo
Altitude: 1,900–2,100 meters
Variety: heirloom
Producer: Kebel Aricha
Flavor: sweet orange, cherry, honey sweetness
This lot of Yirgacheffe was produced at the Kebel Aricha processing station. There are about 650–700 smallholder coffee farmers nearby, and farmers bring ripe coffee berries here for processing in exchange for cash.
About Project Origin
Sasa Sestic, winner of the 2015 World Barista Championship, started a green bean sourcing project called Project Origin three years ago with his business team ONA Coffee. This project works directly with coffee-growing farmers in poor countries and regions, improves their production conditions, and gives them a purchasing price 20% higher than fair trade prices.
The original intention of this project also included strengthening the connection between roasters and coffee farmers, and guiding coffee farmers to grow high-quality coffee beans. So far, Sasa has established relationships with coffee growers from eight countries, including Brazil, Panama, India, Ethiopia, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.
Flavor description: sweet citrus-like tonality, green berries, peach, longan and red date aroma, honey sweetness, cocoa notes with a hint of spice, full body and a lasting finish
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
