The Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Konga is this fortnight's Fresh Crop coffee feature. Lily from Padre Coffee South Melbourne shares her recipes for both filter and espresso below for this fortnight's Fresh Crop Exclusive!
If you know a lot about coffee (or even a little), you may be familiar with the Yirgacheffe region in Ethiopia. I have, first hand, witnessed the excitement that even mentioning “Yirgacheffe” brings to our customers, and a perceptible buzz follows it - for good reason.
As the name suggests, the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Konga comes from the Sede Washing Station in the Konga district in Yirgacheffe. Washing Stations produce both washed and natural beans, and ensure that the beans are of a very high standard. They process beans from farmers in the area, making the coffee completely traceable, every step of the way.
This crop has been naturally processed at an altitude of about 1780-1870 metres above sea level. Naturally processed beans are some of my favourites, as the spectrum of flavour that can vary with each crop just demonstrates the countless tasting possibilities of a single region. The Yirgacheffe Konga is no exception when it comes to complex yet delicate flavours.
I have been particularly keen to try the Yirgacheffe Konga since I was told it would be on offer. I was lucky enough to get to trial brewing and tasting it both in our production offices and in my own kitchen on a slightly overcast, breezy afternoon (in my opinion the best kind of day for experimentation.)
Upon my first sip after I had tweaked my recipe and found the winner, I tasted a light acidic apple flavour, then a fuller bodied punch of stone fruit and caramel toffee. The sip finished with a sweet aftertaste and I was left wondering how a coffee could taste so fruity and balanced. As with most of the Ethiopian coffees I’ve tasted, the Yirgacheffe Konga has such a distinctive aroma and taste that it simply cannot be mistaken for anything else.
Offering a fantastically multi layered flavour profile, I anticipate the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Konga to be a crowd favourite and I look forward to serving up this special crop in our retail stores.
I chose to use one of my most pleasurable filter methods: the V60 pour over. I find that the control I get over the brew is unparalleled, if I want to get that perfect cup. The V60 brewing method is reasonably simple once you get the basic formula down. Often I only have to tweak a couple of the elements (grind size, dosage or brew time) to achieve the most out of the crop, and a delicious cup that leaves me immediately wanting more.
FILTER EQUIPMENT
FILTER RECIPE
PREPARATION
Fill your stove top kettle with filtered water, on a medium to low flame to get a gentle simmer going. While the water is heating, weigh out your beans and grind them on a medium-coarse setting.
Fold the One Cup Filter Paper at the crease and place it in the V60 cone.
Gently saturate the filter paper and let the water drain out to get rid of any papery flavours that can interfere with your extraction.
Now, you are ready to start brewing!
STEP BY STEP GUIDE
00:00
Commence brewing the coffee by adding the ground beans into the V60 vessel. Delicately shake the ground beans to create a flat bed.
Pour 50g of the water in a circular motion starting from the centre and spiralling outwards to start the bloom process. When doing this at home you will notice that the bed will start bubbling and foaming. This is the gas releasing from the beans.
00:30
Wait one minute to allow your coffee to infuse properly.
01:30
Give the brew a few moments to rest and brew, then after 10 or so seconds, keep pouring the same way as before until you reach 250g.
02:30
Here you can give the V60 a gentle shake to check on the evenness of the extraction and make sure that there are no big channels where water is siphoning quicker than other areas of the bed. Finish pouring that last 50g of filtered water.
03:00
Wait until the last of the water has come through the filter and here you have it, your Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Konga V60 Pour Over!
ESPRESSO RECIPE
Domestic espresso recipe (using a Breville Bambino)
On the Slayer LP we use 22g of coffee and aim for a yield of 36g, however your machine and set up will determine what dose (and therefore, yield) you should aim for. Some domestic machines have 20-22g baskets, however some will only be able to hold 16-18g. Use the ratio to adjust the espresso recipe.
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