Guji Specialty Coffee Beans: Grading, Pricing, Green Beans, and Roast Levels from Ethiopia Sidamo Natural Process

Variety: Local native heirloom

Producer: Local small farmers

Sidamo Coffee Characteristics

Sidamo coffee offers extremely diverse flavors thanks to different soil compositions, regional microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties, which create clear differences among the coffees produced in each town and region. The Sidamo growing region is in southern Ethiopia, where agriculture dominates the local economy and coffee areas surround the Great Rift Valley in East Africa.

Shakisso Region

Shakisso sits in Guji, in the Oromia region, bordering Sidama and Gedeo to the south. The area holds numerous mine pits, originally dug for gold, that leave many holes throughout the coffee growing areas and make walking through the plantations genuinely dangerous. Shakisso stands as a unique growing region within Guji/Sidamo, a remote spot far from most coffee-producing zones even by Sidamo standards. Gold mining is another famous local product. Factors such as miners, land disputes, and ethnic tensions led to regional instability in 2006. As a result, the region now faces its greatest challenge: finding enough human resources to maintain the growing areas and harvest the coffee. Local small farmers began growing organic coffee in 2001, working closely with medium-sized coffee producers who have expertise in high-altitude forest coffee cultivation.

Flavor: Lemon, mango, blueberry, wine aroma

Brewing Method

Pour-over Sidamo: 15g of coffee, medium-fine grind (Fuji ghost-tooth grinder setting 3.5), a V60 dripper, and water at 91-93°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and pause. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half, then continue a slow pour to 225g. Discard the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Product Information

Ethiopian Sidamo Shakisso Natural

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Shakisso growing region, Guji Zone

Altitude: 1800-2000 meters

Processing: Natural

Roast level: Light roast

Shakisso Coffee Uniqueness

Shakisso coffee is remarkably distinctive, and its production consistently draws market attention. The legendary Ninety Plus bean known as Nekisse takes its original meaning from "Nectar from Shakisso," with both its growing region and its name tracing back to Shakisso.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Shakisso's lemon, mango, blueberry, and wine-like aroma appeal to you, FrontStreet Coffee's natural Ethiopian beans from the same southern highlands are a natural match. FrontStreet Natural Huakui comes from Hambella in Guji, Sidamo, where the 200-hectare farm dries ripe cherries on raised beds for 21 days; roasted light to medium, it shows a delicate fermented wine note, florals, citrus, and mango with honeyed sweetness, cocoa, and a hint of spice over a thick, lingering body. FrontStreet Sidamo Natural Hamasho 74158 is another fruit-forward choice, with perfume lemon, strawberry, and starfruit sweetness that opens into soft floral notes. Both bring out the wild, fruit-driven character that natural Guji coffees are loved for.