October 2012’s pick

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Washed Arabica Q Grade

A sweet-smelling, medium roast from one of Ethiopia’s most famous growing regions. Lively and undeniably gourmet.

Some say Yirgacheffe coffees are amongst the world’s finest. We fall in love with a new coffee each month so we’re probably not the most objective of adjudicators, but still – there’s something very special about Yirgacheffe Q Grade.

Our October coffee is a medium roast. This means less intensity in the dry and wet aroma, but plenty of glorious flavour: from melon and citrus to fresh herbs and even a hint of rosehip tea.

Our coffee experts’ personal verdicts

Jim, 35 years in the coffee trade
“We’ve long wanted to include a really great example of a Yirgacheffe on our coffee journey, and this month’s selection had to be it. It’s vibrant, colourful and everything a gourmet coffee should be. It’s also completely unsuitable for sharing… you’ll want to keep it to yourself.”

Geoff, 35 years in the coffee trade
“As you can see from this leaflet, coffee is very important to the culture of Ethiopia.They have an ancient proverb which demonstrates this perfectly: “Buno dabo naw” which translated means “Coffee is our bread”. If you are serving this wonderful coffee after a meal, please try it after the main course but before any dessert and to be truly authentic, make the dessert a slice of melon or pineapple.”

A Darwinian coffee story

One of the things we like about Yirgacheffe Q Grade is the story behind the coffee. These are heirloom beans: a variety of Arabica so reliable and refined that they’ve been used to breed modern varietals. In keeping with their elder statesman status, they are processed the old-fashioned way. Harvested cherries are fermented for 72 hours, then they’re pulped by hand and dried in the sun on trestles.

Yirgacheffe Q Grade is a passive organic coffee. This means it has been grown using organic methods, but has not been certified by an organic non-governmental organisation. And the Q? That’s the importer’s stamp of high quality.

ECX: the Ethiopia Coffee Exchange

This coffee comes to us via the Ethiopia Coffee Exchange. The ECX was established in December 2008 to make the trade more transparent – both for international buyers and for local sellers. In the days before the ECX, while it was well known that Ethiopian coffees were some of the best in the world, the costs and risks of transacting were too high: typically, just one-third of output actually made it to market. Less than four years later, the ECX has begun to transform Ethiopian economy by becoming a global commodity market of choice.

The Ethiopian coffee ceremony

One of the things we love about the Ethiopian coffee tradition is the coffee ceremony. We know most of you take your coffee in the ancient traditions of the bleary-eyed oversleeper or the afternoon lull espresso-quaffer, but if you’re looking to branch out…

The Ethiopian coffee ceremony is about the multi-sense experience of coffee. Roasted beans are ground just before brewing using a pestle called a zenesena and a mortar called a mukecha. Ground beans are placed in an earthen pot called a jibuna and then boiling water is poured on top, sometimes with spices like cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Then the pot is removed from the heat and placed on a woven straw holder called a matot.

As the coffee brews, guests are encouraged to use their hands to waft coffee vapours in the air and breathe deeply to fully enjoy the aromas. Once the grounds drift to the bottom of the jibuna, the hot, strong, spiced coffee is served in small, handle-less cups. Guests may add sugar and in some areas, salt, but never milk.

Tasting notes

This is a medium roast coffee. The dry aroma is sweet, with notes of nuts and raisins and a subtle orange zest fragrance. The wet aroma is quite pronounced. It’s also sweet, but see if you can smell something new – fresh fruit and figs. Taste-wise, there’s an initial mouthful of creamy toffee and then red fruits.

This coffee is bright, very clean and lively. The mouthfeel is medium to full body. It’s velvety and syrupy with a finish that lingers just a little.