Tell me about Yirgacheffe

[Terje]

I need to know more about this excellent coffee, my favorite bean so far. Is it prepared in a special way. Someone has been telling me this in another forum, it's some sort of fermenting process they say. True?

Anyway, anything you know about this bean I will read and learn. I think it beats them all so far, much more interesting than Kona for instance.

[Bertie_Doe]

Hi Terje, I also roast Yirg, so I looked in my book 'Coffee' by Banks, McFadden & Atkinson, under the section 'Harvesting & Processing.'
It seems there are 2 methods of removing the pulp from the newly harvested coffee cherry : Dry and Wet Processing.
1. Dry Process. The cherries are cleaned, sun-dried and then hand-turned for three weeks.They may then be finished in a hot-air machine
Then off to a hulling mill and the pulp is removed.
2. Wet process. The cherries are forced down water channels, which loostens the skin, then thru a hulling machine, where some of the pulp is removed and then into water tanks, where natural enzymes, ferment the remainder of the pulp out. They are then sun and/or machine dried.
The book also states that most Ethiopian beans are sun-dried. It is therefore possible that Yirg is the exception to the rule and may be wet (fermentation) processed ?
BTW, you may also find the E Longberry Haraar, Djimmah and the Indian Monsooned Malabar to your liking.
Pete

[zix]

Tell you about yirg? Well, I love it too.
Usually though, it is not dry processed as most ethiopian coffees, but washed. You will notice this when looking at the beans, roasting them and looking at the roast results.

http://coffeereview.com/reference.cfm?ID=66
http://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee.africa.ethiopia.html#yirg

[Terje]

zix, thanks for the links. cumberpach, I haven't tried first two beans you mention but Monsoone Malabaar I have tried a few times and I don't like it at all. It tastes like stale coffee to me. Can be good in blends though.

[wang]

Yirgacheffe is almost always wet-processed and for me is always a loud, consistent and chaff-aholic bean to roast. Has light-medium body, fine acidity and floral notes.