Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelelektu - 2023
On Tuesday January 3, 2023, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelelektu returned to the Seattle Roastery, as well as other Roastery locations and select Starbucks stores in North America.
Starbucks introduced this coffee for the first time ever in 2016: 2016 Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelelektu. The card has gone through a few styles of artwork on the front, but whether or not the card artwork is new, the backside is always updated with the latest flavor tasting notes. Coffee is a farm product, and like any farm product - just as one season’s peaches might not taste exactly like the next - coffee too can have significant variation from season to season. On top of that, the processing of the coffee, whether washed, or semi-washed, or sun-dried has a significant impact on the coffee’s flavor profile. In 2016, this coffee was described as “Lavender aromas with lemon acidity and bergamot spice notes.”
Interestingly, in 2016, Starbucks launched a sun-dried version of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelelektu. This coffee was described as “Ripe red berry flavors and tropical papaya notes.”
Fast forward to August 2019, and the sun-dried version of this coffee returned to the Seattle Reserve Roastery: August 2019 Sun Dried Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelelektu. The description of this coffee was “Floral and tropical aromas with notes of red berries, chocolate and baking spices.”
In January 2021, Starbucks launched again a washed Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelelektu, The artwork was all new and the description was “Delicate floral aromas and sparkling acidity with raspberry and tangerine notes.” I never did scan the backside of the card to this website but I still have it. The processing method on the back of the card says “Fully washed” In 2021, the back of the card had this storyline: “Many places share a passion for coffee, but only one can claim discovering it. Ethiopia holds this honor, which dates back over 1,000 years to a goat herder whose flock grew energetic while eating from an unusual shrub. Since then, rare varietals have been nurtured, and daily rituals have deepened the community’s relationship with coffee. Growers near Chelelektu still work farm they call gardens, often measured in single trees instead of hectares. Only the reddest, ripest cherries are picked by hand at the peak of ripeness. Coffee is shared, not in rushed visits, but slowly and patiently over a single pot. With deep respect for these time-honored traditions, we present a cup that takes us back to the start.”
Now in 2023, we have the washed Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelelektu once again available at the Seattle Reserve Roastery and in select Starbucks locations in North America. The artwork repeats from the 2021 version, but the tasting notes now read as follows, “Lilac aromas with notes of raspberry and honey and lemony coriander accents.” Also, the 2021 taster card lists this coffee as “Fully washed” but for 2023, the card only says “washed.” The backside storyline has changed slightly from 2021 to 2023: The sentence “Only the reddest, ripest cherries…” has been shortened and changed.
While the artwork on the front of the 2021 and 2023 cards is the same, there appears to be one small change. The 2021 card has an “R” in a circle next Yirgacheffe to indicate this is a trademarked word. On the 2023 version of the card, the “R” in a circle has been replaced by a tiny “TM” to indicate that the word is trademarked.
In November 2022, I dropped by the Seattle Roastery and happened to catch the Roastery right when she was roasting this coffee. The Roastery had prepared a tray with examples of the coffee bean at stages of roasting, from green bean to fully roasted.
Production of coffee which gets distributed to numerous locations in North America involves roasting at a Roastery and then packaging into Flavorlock packaging and shipping to locations across the country. Flavorlock packaging really is the gold standard for coffee to be stored and shipped and still maintain excellent quality of freshness and taste. In 2016, Starbucks briefly experimented with testing coffee in plastic canisters, but Flavorlock packaging is still the best to maintain a high coffee quality.
When you are at the Roastery, the scoop bar offers customers a chance to buy coffee that has just been roasted, and actually isn’t even fully de-gassed. Yesterday I took a pic of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Chelelektu at the scoop bar:
There is no exact coffee industry consensus on when a coffee is fully de-gassed at its best in terms of flavor profile. Starbucks might tell you 8 days but another coffee roaster might guess 3 days, or another 4 days. In any event, if you are purchasing coffee that has never been in Flavorlock packaging, use the coffee (for best flavor results) within 15 days of the roast date. A long time ago, I wrote an article on tips for brewing coffee and discuss de-gassing in it. The bottom line is that freshly-roasted coffee, such as shown above will have some de-gas period and so it’s best not to drink it on day one out of the coffee roaster, and you should drink it within about 15 days.
Enjoy!
