Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural

Natural Yirgacheffe is the same high Gedeo Zone terroir as the washed lots, but the cherry is dried whole instead of being pulped and rinsed, and the cup shifts accordingly: less tea-like and citric, more berry, more sweetness, more weight. Where washed lots are the textbook for clean and floral, naturals lean fruit-forward and syrupy.

The three cited Coffee Review lots point the same way: strawberry and pineapple guava in one, ripe blueberry and dark chocolate in another, mulberry with jasmine and baking spices in the third. Body scored 9 on all three, and florals still show up (lavender-like, jasmine) despite the fruit. The scores here are an average of those 3 lots, so treat them as a sketch of the style, not a promise for any bag.

Timing matters if you buy fresh. Per Ethio Coffee, natural lots take roughly 4-6 weeks longer to dry than washed ones, so they reach export later, with shipments typically from March through May. Naturals are also less predictable lot to lot, so choose a roaster that names the farm or washing station and the roast date.