Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Coffee
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Coffee
Grown in the deep-soiled and rolling hills of southwestern Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe gourmet coffee is now known as Ethiopia's Crown and Glory and its cream of the crop. It all began here, in what is now called Ethiopia. Dating back 1300 years, at elevations of over 4,000 feet above the rolling sea, "Kaffa" trees were discovered growing among the roaming animals. Ethiopians have been cultivating and drinking coffee longer than anywhere else on the planet. With more than 50% of its coffee consumed within the country, coffee accounts for 60% of their national export earnings. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe aromatic coffee has easily has become one of the world's most sought after specialty coffees.
Taking special interest in what will soon emerge as Ethiopia Yirgacheffe coffee, the beans are visually selected and then handpicked. Recognizing that single branches deliver blossoms, green fruit and ripe cherries simultaneously, it is imperative to pick only the ripe, quality cherries for the premium quality coffee. This means that the family that works the terraced hectares, will have to make approximately three passes within the year, through the same plot to make sure all of the beans have been picked at their peak. Pickers can pick an average of 200 lbs of ripe cherries in one day. After processing, that same 200 lbs will yield about 50 lbs of raw coffee beans.
For three decades, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans have been processed via the wet-method. After the beans are free from the outer layers of skin and pulp, by use of natural enzymes, they are placed into tanks to ferment for 72 hours. When the sugars in the coffee fruit begin to ferment it can drastically change the taste of the coffee, so this process is very specifically timed. 72 hours of fermentation time will allow the beans to have a higher acidity, a cleaner floral flavor, tasteless earthy and a more full-body than if they were processed by the dry-method.
There is no doubt that Ethiopian Yirgacheffe ranks paramount in the company of the best of African coffee. There is also no ambiguity that coffee plants and cultivation originated here and that Ethiopians are responsible for acquainting the rest of the world with their gift of fine gourmet coffee. Therefore, we have complete confidence that when you buy freshly roasted Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee at Toy Dog Coffee, you will be certain to savor one of the most distinctive coffees in the world.
Taste
Different from other African coffees, the light-medium roasted Yirgacheffe adds a soft, fragrant, flowery note that is complex to the palate with a long, resonant finish. Ethiopia produces some of the most varied and distinctive gourmet coffee beans in the world, and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe ranks among the best of African coffees.