Ethiopian Washed Coffee
Washed coffee has its fruit removed before drying: the producer pulps the cherry, lets fermentation loosen the sticky mucilage and rinses it off with water. Washed Ethiopian coffees are known for delicate floral and citrus notes.
Read more about washed Ethiopian coffee
Importer Royal Coffee calls the Yirgacheffe district one of Ethiopia's first areas to fully wash its coffee, and Perfect Daily Grind says most Yirgacheffe coffee is still washed. The same guide describes Limu as a washed coffee with low acidity and says Jimma coffees are reportedly best when washed.
Royal Coffee's notes on one Yirgacheffe washing station show the work involved. Staff ferment the depulped coffee for 36 to 48 hours and wash it, then spread the parchment, the bean still in its papery husk, on raised beds. They turn it every 2 to 3 hours in the first days and dry it for 10 to 12 days, down to 11.5% moisture.
This shelf lists coffees whose roaster names Ethiopia as the only origin and washed among the processes, so a few combine washed and natural lots. See all Ethiopian coffee, washed coffee from other countries, or Ethiopian natural coffee.
Peaches, Graham crackers, Complex
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Questions about Ethiopian washed coffee
How much Ethiopian coffee is washed?
Perfect Daily Grind's 2021 East Africa guide reported that some 29% of Ethiopian coffee is washed, with almost all of the rest natural processed. The share varies by region. In Sidama, for example, around 60% of the coffee is washed.
Source: perfectdailygrind.comWhat does Yirgacheffe mean on a coffee bag?
Yirgacheffe is the trade name for coffee from the Gedeo Zone, a highland plateau in southern Ethiopia. Royal Coffee explains that the zone's coffee has been sold as Yirgacheffe for many years, after the Yirgacheffe district.
Source: royalcoffee.comDoes washed coffee have less body?
Often. Perfect Daily Grind says washed processing, very common in Eastern Africa, results in a clean cup with less body. Natural coffees, dried inside the fruit, tend toward a fuller body and more fruit flavor.
Source: perfectdailygrind.comWhy do roasters go gently with washed Ethiopian coffee?
Perfect Daily Grind's roasting guide advises a low rate of temperature increase during first crack. Starting a washed Ethiopian coffee with too much energy can cause a large loss of energy later, leaving some beans over-developed and others under-developed.
Source: perfectdailygrind.com