Which Coffee Beans Process Topped Ethiopia's First COE?

Ethiopia held its first Cup of Excellence competition in 2020, and 28 coffees scored above 87. The three lots that broke 90 points all came from Sidama, with farmer Niguse Gemeda Mude winning at 91.04 points; that natural Sidama lot later sold on May 28 at US$185.1 per pound. A 22nd-place natural Typica from West Arsi scored 87.64.

That 22nd-place lot was grown by Adem Banta Sute. COE winners are held, auctioned and shipped by the competition organizers, and pandemic-related flight and shipping delays pushed delivery roughly two months behind schedule, which is why the beans arrived in October. The results show how coffee beans process and regional variety naming shape flavor and price.

In 2020, Ethiopia held its first-ever COE Cup of Excellence competition, and 28 coffees scoring above 87 stood out, with 3 of them breaking the 90-point mark, all from the Sidama region. Front Street Coffee successfully bid on a 22nd-place natural Typica from the West Arsi area. This article will take you deep into the details of this year's COE winners, Ethiopia's coffee variety naming system, the pros and cons of the traditional natural processing method, as well as Front Street Coffee's roasting curve, cupping performance, and brewing recommendations for this auction-winning bean, presenting a complete flavor guide to Ethiopia's coffee-producing regions for coffee lovers.

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One of the most closely watched major events in the coffee industry recently is Ethiopia's first-ever COE (Cup of Excellence) competition. In June of this year, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) participated in the bidding for Ethiopia's first COE, and the 22nd-place auction-winning bean it purchased has already arrived at port. Due to the impact of the pandemic this year, flights and shipping schedules have been extremely tight, so we waited two months longer than usual.

A total of 28 coffees were shortlisted in this year's Ethiopia COE competition, all scoring above 87. Among them, the three beans that broke 90 points all came from the Sidama region. Coffee farmer Niguse Gemeda Mude from the Bura area of Sidama won the championship of the first Ethiopia Cup of Excellence with a natural Sidama, scoring 91.04 points. The lot was subsequently sold on May 28 at US$185.1 per pound.

What Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) won this time was 22nd place, a natural Typica from the West Arsi area, grown by Adem Banta Sute, with a score of 87.64.

Over the past few months, quite a few so-called "same COE lot" products have also appeared on the domestic market, but what exactly is the difference between them and the COE lot we received only in October?

The reasoning is actually not complicated. Coffees that participate in COE bidding and win awards are uniformly kept, auctioned, and shipped by COE officials, and the process is already cumbersome; add to that the impact of the pandemic this year, and the overall progress has been even slower. The so-called "same lot" did not go through COE's official bidding process, but was exported directly through production-area channels. Even if it comes from the same producing region, or even a similar lot, its flavor has no COE-certified guarantee.

The 60-year-old Adem Banta Sute has grown coffee all his life, and he is also the father of 28 children. The family lives in Refisa Village, Nensebo District, West Arsi, Oromia.

Adem Banta Sute produced 4,500 kilograms of coffee on his own 6 hectares of land. Before winning the award this year, he had always sold his coffee to local traders.

According to officially released information, the variety of this 22nd-place COE coffee grown by Adem Banta Sute is labeled as Typica. Among the top 28 of the first Ethiopia COE in 2020, Typica made up the main proportion, while the rest were 74110, 74158, and Kurme.

It is worth noting that in the official award information of this year's Ethiopia Cup of Excellence, the term Heirloom native species/heirloom variety did not appear. Instead, names such as Typica, 74100, 74158, or Kurme were used. What is the reason? In fact, heirloom is not an accurate coffee variety name.

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, and the number of native varieties is beyond imagination. These varieties are grown and processed mixed together, making variety traceability extremely difficult. That is why the term "heirloom" is used as a broad umbrella term to collectively refer to those coffee varieties that cannot be identified.

Ethiopian varieties can be roughly divided into landraces and research varieties released by the Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC).

Both 74110 and 74158 belong to research varieties released by JARC. In the 1970s, coffee berry disease (Coffee Cherry Disease, or CBD) ran rampant, causing a sharp decline in Ethiopian coffee production. To find varieties with natural disease resistance genes, JARC collected 639 samples between 1973 and 1975 and ultimately selected 13 disease-resistant varieties, including 74110 and 74158, and "74" is precisely the year these samples were collected.

The processing method of this 22nd-place COE coffee is natural processing. In Ethiopia, more than 70% of coffee cherries are processed naturally. The traditional practice is for smallholder coffee farmers to dry them directly in their own courtyards, on rooftops, or even by the roadside, because this method costs far less than washed processing. However, this extensive processing method is also one of the reasons for the uneven quality of Ethiopia's early natural beans.

Natural coffee beans processed in cooperation with cooperatives and washing station processing plants have more stable quality. But to produce high-quality natural processing still requires more effort. Before the moisture content drops to 25%, manual and even turning is required, once every 30 to 60 minutes, to avoid unpleasant over-fermentation flavors, which also makes the labor cost of natural processing higher.

Coupled with weather risk factors, the natural processing cycle is longer, and obtaining higher-quality natural coffee beans requires more input of labor costs and resources. However, judging from the natural scores among this year's top 28, good natural processing is indeed a method where risk and reward coexist.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Roasting Curve

According to the information description on the COE official website, this 22nd-place COE bean has outstanding sweetness, and Front Street's roaster accordingly adjusted and formulated the roasting curve.

Charge at a drum temperature of 170°C, heat power 130, airflow opening 3; turning point at 1 minute 32 seconds, when the drum temperature is 100.2°C, keep the heat power unchanged; at 3 minutes adjust airflow to 4, at 4 minutes increase heat power to 140. When the drum temperature is 150.5°C, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and it enters the dehydration stage. At 8 minutes 36 seconds, ugly wrinkles and dark patches appear on the bean surface, and the toasted bread aroma clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, you need to listen clearly for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9 minutes 10 seconds, develops for 1 minute 30 seconds after first crack, and is dropped at 192.5°C.

Front Street Cupping

After receiving this batch of auction-winning beans, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) immediately carried out three roasting profiles and cupped their flavors. After preliminary roasting, the roasting curve was confirmed and fine-tuned to achieve the best flavor in the final product.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Brewing Recommendations

Dripper: V60#01

Water temperature: 90-91°C

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: medium-fine grind (80% passing rate on China standard No. 20 sieve)

Brewing method: three-stage extraction. Use 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour in a small stream in circles until 125 grams for the stage break. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 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 minutes 00 seconds.

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