How does processing change Yirgacheffe coffee flavor?

Washed processing gives Yirgacheffe its clean, transparent mouthfeel and citrus-lemon acidity, while natural processing brings a different, fruitier character from the same region. Comparing Ethiopia washed Gudingding and Ethiopia natural Red Cherry shows how the coffee bean process shapes roast curves and cupping flavors, even when both beans come from Yirgacheffe.

Yirgacheffe sits in Ethiopia at 1,700 to 2,100 meters, among the highest coffee-growing areas, and suits Arabica varieties. The region includes sub-areas such as Yirgacheffe, Worka, Kochere and Genlena Abay. Fertile soil and large day-night temperature swings, combined with local native coffee gardens, influence how each processing method expresses flavor.

Yirgacheffe is world-renowned for its clear citrus-lemon acidity, and the washed processing method has played an indispensable role in this. However, the natural processing method also radiates a unique charm in the Yirgacheffe region. Front Street Coffee will start with the regional background, the principles and procedures of processing methods, systematically sort out the core differences between washed and natural processing, and further compare two representative beans in the Front Street shop—Ethiopia Washed Gudingding and Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry—in terms of their specific performance in roasting curves and cupping flavors, providing coffee lovers with a clear tasting reference.

Yirgacheffe coffee beans are known for their clean and transparent mouthfeel and citrus-lemon-like acidity, which has earned them a high reputation in the global coffee circle, and this is largely due to the promotion of the washed processing method. However, Front Street Coffee has always believed that Yirgacheffe is not only worth paying attention to for its washed beans; naturally processed works also perform well. Next, Front Street Coffee will discuss the flavor differences that these two processing methods give to Yirgacheffe.

Yirgacheffe Coffee Region

Front Street Coffee has always advocated that understanding a coffee bean requires starting from three dimensions: region, variety, and processing method. Therefore, the following introduction will also revolve around these three points.

Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia, with an altitude between 1,700 and 2,100 meters, making it one of the highest coffee-growing regions in the world and very suitable for Arabica varieties. Strictly speaking, Yirgacheffe was originally a sub-region under Sidamo Province, located northwest of Sidamo, with mountains and rivers. Because the coffee beans produced in this small town have an exceptionally outstanding flavor, it was later declared an independent region by the EXC.

According to Front Street's understanding, under the ECX system, Yirgacheffe is currently divided into four sub-regions: Yirgacheffe, Worka, Kochere, and Genlena Abay. This land has fertile soil, an average altitude of over 1,800 meters, and significant temperature differences between day and night. The production methods of each region, combined with the local unique native coffee gardens, make the flavor of each batch of coffee beans distinctive and highly recognizable.

The name Yirgacheffe itself is also quite interesting. Front Street believes that "yirga" means to settle down, and "cheffe" refers to wetlands, so together it means "let us settle down and make a living in this wetland."

Yirgacheffe Coffee Processing Methods

As Front Street Coffee mentioned earlier, Yirgacheffe coffee became famous because of the washed processing method. In the early days, Yirgacheffe, like other regions in Ethiopia, used the most traditional natural method. It was not until 1972 that Ethiopia, in order to improve coffee quality, introduced washed technology from South America. This change amplified the citrus-lemon aroma of Yirgacheffe coffee beans themselves and made the mouthfeel more fresh and bright.

For this reason, Yirgacheffe quickly became one of the representatives of specialty coffee in the world, and since then the region has mainly produced washed beans. After entering the 21st century, natural processing technology continued to improve, and stunning natural beans began to emerge in the specialty coffee market. At that time, a Yirgacheffe coffee trader named Baggesi, who missed the traditional natural flavor, began to improve the natural process and launched many outstanding products, allowing natural beans to regain a place in the Yirgacheffe region. The Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee beans in Front Street Coffee's shop are one of the products favored by coffee fans.

It can be said that today Yirgacheffe performs quite well whether washed or natural. Next, Front Street will explain the specific differences between these two processing methods.

Natural Processing Method

As Front Street Coffee mentioned earlier, the natural processing method is the oldest way of processing coffee beans, also known as the "dry method." It does not require high-end equipment and can be carried out as long as there are consecutive sunny days. The drying time is usually 27 to 30 days. Therefore, this method has high requirements for climate conditions and is more suitable for arid regions. For example, Ethiopia, which Front Street Coffee just mentioned, is itself a country that widely uses the natural processing method because of its high altitude, dry climate, and shortage of water resources. The reason why the Yirgacheffe region generally adopts washed processing is that the area itself is a wetland and is the region in Ethiopia with the most abundant water resources.

It is worth noting that although natural processing is simple to operate, it also results in coffee beans that are not aesthetically pleasing in appearance, often with cracks on the surface, making them less appealing.

Natural Processing Method Procedure

1. First, ripe coffee cherries are picked, then manually sorted to remove defective beans, overripe beans, or insect-damaged beans, retaining high-quality beans. This is also the main reason why the coffee beans in Front Street's shop have a relatively uniform and attractive appearance.

2. The good cherries after manual sorting are sent to drying sites for processing. Different regions use different drying racks, such as waterproof cloth, raised beds, or concrete floors. The average drying time is 27 to 30 days, until the coffee's moisture content drops to 11% before it is considered complete.

3. This step is relatively crucial. The dried coffee cherries are sent to a specialized processing plant for peeling and hulling, and sometimes polishing, so that the pulp and other parts fall off, finally obtaining the green coffee beans we commonly see.

4. The peeled green coffee beans undergo another round of sorting to remove beans with poor appearance again. This is because overly dried beans are more fragile and easily break during peeling; under-dried beans contain too much moisture, and the active water can easily breed bacteria and cause mildew. Therefore, they need to be sorted again before being sent to the warehouse for storage and packaging for export.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Natural Processing

Advantages: As Front Street said earlier, natural processing is simple to operate, which means the cost is not high, so natural coffee beans have an irreplaceable fermented flavor. Nowadays, coffee farmers have also begun to attach importance to natural beans, for example, placing beans on racks to dry and turning them frequently to prevent contamination. Because of this, Front Street's shop can have so many high-quality natural coffee beans.

Disadvantages: As Front Street also mentioned earlier, natural coffee beans have strict requirements for weather, and the dryness of the cherries is difficult to control. If the drying yard is not clean, impurities can easily mix in, leading to an increase in defective beans. During the drying process, because the coffee cherries are dried with the fruit and pulp, mildew and spoilage can easily occur. Fortunately, with technological development, coffee farmers pursuing higher-quality natural beans have begun to use instruments and manpower to closely monitor the degree of fermentation and drying, removing anything abnormal. This operation has a higher cost but is more meticulous, so it is also called refined natural processing.

Flavor Performance of Natural Coffee Beans

Because they are exposed to the sun for a long time, natural coffee beans have a more intense flavor and richer layers, with winey fermented notes, and the sweetness is usually higher.

Washed Processing Method

The second common processing method is washed. Most of Front Street's coffee beans from different regions also use washed processing, especially Front Street's daily beans. This is because washed coffee beans are cleaner, with a more transparent flavor expression, conforming to the most original taste of the coffee fruit. Therefore, Front Street also often says that the flavor of washed coffee beans is the guiding light for understanding the flavor of a region.

Washed Processing Method Procedure

1. First, the coffee farmer pours all the harvested cherries into water. Defective beans will float to the surface, and those that sink to the bottom are the qualified cherries. This operation greatly reduces the time needed to select them one by one.

2. The selected cherries are put into a depulper to remove the skin and pulp. After removal, there is still a layer of mucilage adhering to the surface of the cherries, so a large amount of clean water is needed to wash off the sticky substance.

3. Then fermentation is used to completely remove the mucilage. This process takes about 18 hours. After fermentation is completed, the fermenting bacteria will adhere to the surface of the cherries, so they need to be washed again with a large amount of clean water. In this step, obtaining 1 kilogram of coffee beans requires 40 to 50 kilograms of clean water. Front Street believes this is a very large number, and it is also the reason why arid countries cannot adopt washed processing.

4. The cleaned coffee beans can then be dried. Some regions take them outdoors to dry directly, while some more developed regions send them to processing plants for machine drying, reducing the coffee's moisture content to about 11%.

5. Finally, the dried coffee beans are stored and packaged, and can then be sold for export.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Washed Processing

Advantages: Coffee beans that have been washed with a large amount of water have fewer impurities and a relatively complete appearance. Also, because the skin and pulp are removed by washing from the beginning, there is no need to worry about mildew, and the overall quality is relatively stable.

Disadvantages: The washed processing procedure is relatively complex and cumbersome, requires a large amount of water, and therefore has a higher cost. It is less used in areas with scarce water resources.

Flavor Performance of Washed Coffee Beans

As Front Street said above, washed coffee beans have a cleaner and more transparent flavor, with acidity and fruity notes, a bright mouthfeel, and lower sweetness and body.

Differences Between Washed and Natural Coffee Beans

The most essential difference between natural and washed is that natural processing retains the flavor of the pulp, while washed removes the pulp flavor and represents the most essential taste of the coffee bean. The difference in mouthfeel is obvious: washed is cleaner and more transparent, while natural is richer in mouthfeel. Because the washed method can reflect the most essential flavor of coffee beans, whenever Front Street Coffee recommends coffee beans, if a guest is tasting coffee beans from that region for the first time, Front Street will prioritize recommending washed beans, so that the guest can more clearly understand the flavor characteristics of that region.

The above is Front Street Coffee's summary of the differences and characteristics of Yirgacheffe washed and natural processing. Next, Front Street Coffee will compare the flavor differences between Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee beans and Yirgacheffe Washed Gudingding coffee beans.

Front Street Coffee: Ethiopia Washed Gudingding Coffee Beans

Country: Ethiopia Region: Yirgacheffe Altitude: 1900-2300m Variety: Local native species Processing: Washed Flavor: Tropical fruit, cream, honey, berries, citrus

According to Front Street's understanding, the Gudingding Cooperative was originally part of the Worka Cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers' Cooperative Union YCFCU. In 2012, it became independent as the Gudingding Cooperative, and currently has about 300 smallholder members. At the same time, Gudingding Village was one of the earliest village areas to become independent, and many small farmers were also members of the original Worka Cooperative, so their production technology is excellent, and the coffee beans produced naturally have an excellent flavor.

Front Street Coffee: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry

Country: Ethiopia Region: Yirgacheffe Altitude: 2300m Variety: Local native species Processing: Natural Flavor: Berries, lemon, strawberry, fermented wine aroma

Front Street Coffee's Natural Red Cherry coffee beans are made from 100% ripe coffee cherries dried naturally, so they are full of aroma, rich in sweetness, and have fermented notes.

This coffee bean comes from the "Red Cherry Project" jointly initiated by local Ethiopian coffee farmers and the Dutch trader Trabocca, aiming to improve the quality of coffee from small-scale farms and increase farmers' income. Picking fully ripe coffee cherries requires not only fully red and highly ripe fruit but also entirely hand-picked harvesting, yet this is only the most basic requirement. There are also corresponding standards for coffee bean processing.

Next, Front Street Coffee will share the flavor differences between these two Yirgacheffe natural and washed coffee beans after roasting and brewing.

Front Street Coffee Roasting Data Sharing

Natural Red Cherry: Front Street Coffee performs two rounds of manual sorting to remove defective beans before roasting. Hand sorting before roasting lays the foundation for roasting high-quality coffee. This Natural Red Cherry coffee has very few defects.

Using Yangjia 800N, bean charge 600g: charge when the drum temperature reaches 200°C, set the damper to 3.5, adjust the flame to 160 degrees after 1 minute, keep the damper unchanged, adjust the flame once at 148 degrees, lower it to 130 degrees, roast until 5'03'', temperature 151 degrees, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration is complete, adjust the flame to 105 degrees, open the damper to 4; at the 8th minute, ugly wrinkles and dark patches appear on the bean surface, and the toast smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'07'', reduce the flame to 70 degrees, fully open the damper (adjust the flame very carefully, not so low that there is no crackling sound), and drop at 194 degrees.

Washed Gudingding: Front Street's roaster considered that Gudingding's main representative flavor is fruity acidity, so it is more suitable for a light roast profile, which will highlight Gudingding's clean mouthfeel, bright fruit acidity, and obvious sweet aftertaste.

Using Yangjia 800N, bean charge: 480g: charge when the drum temperature reaches 175°C, set the damper to 3, flame at 120; turning point 1'32", when the drum temperature is 140°C keep the flame unchanged, open the damper to 4; at this time the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. At 166°C reduce the flame to 100, at 176°C reduce the flame to 80, keep the damper unchanged. At 8'28", ugly wrinkles and dark patches appear on the bean surface, and the toast smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'38", adjust the damper to 5 (adjust the flame very carefully, not so low that there is no crackling sound), develop for 1'30'' after first crack, and drop at 193.5°C.

Front Street Coffee Brewing Data Sharing

Filter: V60 #01 Water temperature: 90-91°C Dose: 15g Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15 Grind size: BG6m / medium-fine grind (80% passing through a No. 20 sieve)

Brewing method: Three-stage extraction

In the first stage, pour 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour 95 grams (the electronic scale shows about 125 grams), finishing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100 grams (the electronic scale shows about 225 grams), finishing in about 1 minute 35 seconds. Dripping is completed at 2'00''-2'10", remove the filter cup, and extraction is complete.

Natural Red Cherry brewing flavor: Lemon, licorice, citrus, berries, sweet orange. The overall sweetness is relatively high, with caramel and cream notes in the sweet aftertaste, and a black tea aroma in the finish.

Washed Gudingding brewing flavor: Citrus and black tea on entry, with cream, caramel, and almond notes in the finish as the temperature changes, obvious sweet aftertaste, and a clean, sweet mouthfeel.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

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