Tops in Ethiopia

🔥 Take my author's test and choose the coffee to your taste in 1 minute! The most popular type of Ethiopian coffee among those who have already risen somewhat above the banal Sidamo is Irgachif. Irgachif, Irgachiff, Irgacheff, Irgacheffe are all the same. The variety of names comes from the liberty in the transliteration of the name of the growing area - "Yirgachefe zone". This zone lies in two regions of the country: the eastern part is in Oromia, the western one is in the Southern Nationalities Region (SNNPR), here it is also called the Gedeo zone, in honor of the ethnic group of the same name. Hence the word "gedeo" in the name of some micro lots. In general, Ethiopia is considered the ancestor of coffee in terms of the collection and consumption of wild berries. In other words, historically, it was here that people thought of eating coffee. And Irgachif is one of the most complex and multifaceted varieties in terms of flavor shades from the country where Pushkin's Tops in Ethiopia  great-grandfather Abram Hannibal was born. In Ethiopia, most coffee is generally grown on high-altitude farms, but Irgachif is the tallest growing variety, typically 1800-2200 above sea level. Here, the bushes ripen, surrounded by tropical rainforests. The plantations are interspersed with ginger, cardamom, papaya. Coffee grows in the shade of tall trees, in particular acacias. The second line is written in the Gedeo language. Yes, they even have their own writing. Here and below - photos by the author fups under license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. B5. By the way, the structure of coffee plantations in Ethiopia is quite unique. Here coffee is grown by many small farmers on small plots, the minimum planting is only 20-25 acres. In the mountains at such an altitude, daily temperature fluctuations of up to 15 degrees are typical. On the one hand, this slows down the process of maturation of coffee, on the other hand, it adds complexity to the taste, versatility. Given the terroir described above, it is logical that the taste is dominated by floral descriptors (mainly jasmine) and tropical fruit notes. The body (density) of the drink is light, tea-like. The highlands guarantee the almost complete absence of bitterness, unless, of course, the grain is roasted in coals. However, a slight astringency is present, based on black tea and bergamot. No wonder some people compare the Irgachif cup with Earl Gray 😉 In major, high sweetness (plum, peach, apricot, caramel on further roasting). In medium and dark roasts, the sourness of dark berries: currants, blueberries, blackberries, blueberries. Light roast is dominated by citrus - lemon, lime, grapefruit. The aftertaste is long, spicy, based on lemon peel. It is better to cook washed Ethiopia Irgacheff not in a carob coffee maker or an automatic machine (which is depressed in the background), but by filtering methods, for example, in a drip coffee maker - tea with bergamot is served! The berries are picked by hand, because the harvesters are unable to work in rugged mountainous terrain. The usual collection period is from October to January. The grains are usually small (yes, this is not Maragodjeep for you 😉). But the main thing to know about the grain size from Ethiopia is that they are not sorted by size. So this information is useless when buying. Usually the screen is formally designated as 15. https://jiji.com.et/25-tops