Union Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee Wholebean, 200g
Before anyone planted arabica in rows it grew in forests like this one, and the cup still carries that: light-bodied, clean, closer to a delicate tea than to a breakfast coffee. The sweetness arrives as stone fruit rather than as sugar, and there is almost no bitterness for a rushed cup to hide behind, which is why a careless brew reads sour instead of merely weak. Whole beans, so a grinder is part of what you are buying. Drink the first one black; milk takes this one apart.
Union Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee Wholebean, in brief.
Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee Wholebean is a 200g bag of unground single-origin Ethiopian coffee, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the bright, forest-grown alternative to a supermarket espresso blend rather than another bag built for consistency.
Whole beans, so a grinder is not optional. Grind coarse and fresh, brew at about 93 degrees rather than boiling, and drink the first cup black, because milk covers exactly the character you paid for.
The practical point first, because it decides whether this pack is any use to you. These are whole beans. You need a grinder, and you need to grind them immediately before you brew rather than in advance, because the moment a bean is broken open the aromatics start leaving. Buying whole beans and grinding a week's worth on Sunday gets you most of the disadvantages of ground coffee with none of the convenience. If you do not have a grinder, buy a ground pack instead and come back to this one later.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind the Pack
Ethiopia is where coffee comes from, in the literal sense that the plant is native there and was drunk there long before it travelled anywhere else. That matters more than it usually does on a coffee bag, because it means Ethiopian coffee still includes genuinely wild and semi-wild growing alongside planted farms, where almost everywhere else in the world grows a small number of cultivated varieties descended from a handful of plants that left Ethiopia centuries ago. A pack that names a forest rather than an estate is pointing at that difference.
The tasting profile above is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
What You Are Actually Buying
- Weight: 200g of whole, unground beans. On a standard 7g dose that is about 28 cups, and that figure is our own reckoning from the pack weight rather than a manufacturer claim.
- Cups at a heavier dose: Dose heavier for a cafetiere, as many people do, and you will get closer to 16 or 17 cups from the bag.
- Grinder required: these are beans. No grinder, no coffee. A burr grinder is worth more to the cup than any bag of beans you could buy with the same money.
- Single origin: Ethiopian, named for the Yayu forest. Not a blend, so what you taste is one place rather than a roaster's balancing act.
Getting It Right in the Cup
- Water temperature: about 93 degrees, half a minute off the boil.
- Dose: 7g for an espresso-sized serving, about 12g per 200ml for a cafetiere or filter.
- Grind: fresh, every time, and coarse for a cafetiere.
- Storage: sealed, cool, dark and dry. Never the fridge or the freezer once the bag is open, because condensation does more damage than air.
- Best with: a slow morning, a pour-over kit, or anyone who has just been given a grinder and wants to find out what it is for.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Union Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee Wholebean, 200g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Union
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
A single-origin bean rewards attention and punishes carelessness more than a blend does, because there is no second component propping up the cup when you get it wrong. Four things account for almost all of it.
The Cafetiere Method
Getting More Out of the Bag
Made with this tea
The Cafetiere Mug
How to make The Cafetiere Mug with Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee.
- 12g Yayu Forest beans
- A grinder, set coarse
- 200ml water at about 93 degrees
- A timer
- Grind 12g coarse, like sea salt, immediately before brewing.
- Pour 200ml of water half a minute off the boil over the grounds and stir once.
- Wait four minutes, then plunge slowly.
- Decant the whole jug straight away so the coffee stops extracting.
What you'll end up with: A clean, bright mug with a medium body. If it reads sour, add coffee rather than time.
Pour-Over, The Best Case
How to make Pour-Over, The Best Case with Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee.
- 18g Yayu Forest beans
- A grinder, set medium
- 300ml water at about 93 degrees
- A cone, a filter paper and a kettle you can pour slowly from
- Rinse the paper with hot water and throw that water away.
- Grind 18g medium and level the bed with a tap.
- Bloom with 50ml of water and wait thirty seconds while it swells.
- Pour the remaining 250ml slowly in circles over about two and a half minutes.
What you'll end up with: The clearest version of this coffee there is. The paper strips the oils and leaves the florals standing on their own.
Fridge Cold Brew
How to make Fridge Cold Brew with Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee.
- 60g Yayu Forest beans
- 1 litre cold water
- A jug with a lid and a filter paper
- Grind 60g coarse and stir it into a litre of cold water.
- Cover and leave in the fridge for twelve hours.
- Strain through a filter paper, slowly, and do not squeeze the bed.
- Keep the result in a sealed bottle in the fridge for up to five days.
What you'll end up with: Noticeably sweeter and rounder than the hot cup, because cold water extracts far less acid. The citrus reads as sweetness instead of brightness.
Espresso Tonic
How to make Espresso Tonic with Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee.
- 1 espresso from 18g Yayu Forest beans
- A tall glass of ice
- 150ml cold tonic water
- A slice of orange
- Fill a tall glass with ice and pour 150ml of cold tonic over it.
- Pull a single espresso and pour it gently over the back of a spoon so it layers.
- Add a slice of orange and stir once, just before drinking.
What you'll end up with: The drink that suits a bright Ethiopian coffee better than any milk build. The tonic's quinine and the coffee's acidity work together rather than against each other.
Cold Brew Iced Latte
How to make Cold Brew Iced Latte with Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee.
- 120ml cold brew from the build above
- A glass of ice
- 150ml cold whole or oat milk
- Fill a glass with ice and pour in 120ml of cold brew.
- Top with 150ml of cold milk, poured slowly so it layers before you stir.
- Stir from the bottom once, and drink before the ice thins it.
What you'll end up with: Cold brew is the one form of this coffee with enough sweetness to survive milk. Made from a hot brew the same drink would taste thin.
Coffee Granita
How to make Coffee Granita with Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee.
- 500ml strong brewed Yayu Forest coffee
- 60g caster sugar
- A shallow freezer tray and a fork
- Brew 500ml strong in a cafetiere and stir the sugar in while it is hot.
- Cool completely, then pour into a shallow tray and freeze.
- Scrape with a fork every forty minutes for about four hours until it is loose crystals.
- Serve in chilled glasses with a spoonful of cream on top.
What you'll end up with: A Sicilian summer pudding made with an Ethiopian coffee. The brightness survives freezing better than a dark roast's bitterness does.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Component | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Roasted coffee beans | The whole pack | Nothing else is in the bag. A single-origin Ethiopian coffee sold whole, so the grind decision is yours rather than the packer's. |
| Origin | Ethiopia, Yayu as named on the pack | The character of the cup. Ethiopian coffee reads bright and almost tea-like where a South American blend reads round and nutty. |
| Pack weight | 200g, about 28 cups | Our own reckoning from the pack weight at a standard 7g dose, not a manufacturer claim. |
Pack: Union Union Union Union Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee Wholebean, 200g; whole unground beans, so a grinder is required. The container type, any freshness valve, the roast level, the ingredient list and the best-before date are printed on the current UK pack and should be read from it rather than from this page.
Characterising components shown.
Sourcing & blend. Union Union Union Union Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee Wholebean, 200g is a single origin rather than a blend, and the origin is the point of the pack. Ethiopia is where the coffee plant is native and where it was drunk long before it travelled anywhere else, which is why Ethiopian coffee still includes genuinely wild and semi-wild growing alongside planted farms. Most of the rest of the coffee world grows a small number of cultivated varieties descended from a handful of plants that left Ethiopia centuries ago, so a bag that names a forest rather than an estate is pointing at a real difference rather than at marketing.
What's in Union Union Union Union Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee Wholebean, 200g, and what isn't:
- In: roasted coffee beans and nothing else, unground, brewed with hot water in whatever kit you own.
- Not ground: a grinder is required. This is the single most important thing to check before buying, and there is no way round it.
- Not a blend: one origin, so the cup tastes of a place rather than of a roaster's balancing act between several.
- Packaging: follow the current UK pack and your local-authority guidance; the bag, any valve and any inner liner can take different disposal routes.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Union Yayu Forest Ethiopia Wild Coffee Wholebean, 200g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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