Ethiopian Washed Sidamo G1 Shakisso Specialty Coffee Beans: Differences, Distinctions, and Awards

Coffee is a craft best learned by tasting widely and comparing notes with other drinkers.

Indonesian and African Coffee Bean Grading Systems

Coffee from Indonesia and Africa is graded on defects. Indonesian beans are divided mainly into 6 grades, G1-G6. The highest grades for washed beans are G1 and G2; for natural processed beans they are G1 and G3.

Grade Classifications

What do these grades represent? As follows:

Washed: Grade-1; Grade-2 (G1 > G2)

Natural: Grade-1 and Grade-3 to Grade-5 (G1 > G3 > G4 > G5)

Important Considerations

a) Both washed and natural beans can reach Grade-1, on the condition of "zero" defects and Premium Cup quality. Whether washed or natural, Grade-1 represents the finest among specialty coffees, or Cup of Excellence level coffee.

b) The lowest grade for natural processed Yirgacheffe and Sidamo is Grade-4.

c) Within the same grade, such as Grade-2 Limu beans, quality can vary with the exporter's sorting standards and investment.

d) Given the current "zero defect" requirement, Grade-1 beans - washed or natural - are extremely rare, because processing costs are high and very few suppliers will take on that standard.

Brewing Parameters

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

Product Information

Manufacturer: Dazhen Coffee FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)
Address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Guangzhou
Contact: 020-38364473
Ingredients: In-house roasted
Shelf life: 90 days
Net weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast level: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar content: Sugar-free
Origin: Ethiopia
Coffee type: Other
Roast degree: Light roast

Ethiopian Sidamo Shakisso Washed

Country: Ethiopia

Grade: G1

Region: Shakisso region, Guji Zone

Roast Level: Light roast

Processing Method: Washed

Washed coffees tend to lack wild flavors and are defined instead by purity and freshness; they suit City to Full City roast levels. Some exceptional Ethiopian washed coffees show distinct notes of lifted lemon, citrus essential oils, jasmine, and honey, with more pronounced acidity and a lighter body.

"Ethiopian Sidamo" is a single-origin Arabica grown in Ethiopia's Sidamo province. Like most African coffees, Ethiopian Sidamo has small, grayish beans, but it is distinguished by rich, spicy, wine-like or chocolate flavors and floral notes. The most characteristic flavors across all Sidamo coffees are lemon and citrus, with a bright, crisp acidity. Sidamo coffee includes Yirgacheffe and Guji, both of exceptional quality.

Variety: Local heirloom varieties

Producer: Local small farmers

Flavor: White grape juice, citrus, Earl Grey tea notes

About Sidamo

Sidamo flavors are incredibly diverse, thanks to different soil compositions, regional microclimates, and countless native varieties, so coffee from each town differs noticeably. The Sidamo region lies in southern Ethiopia. Agriculture dominates the local economy, and the coffee-growing areas sit around the Great Rift Valley.

Shakisso Region Introduction

Shakisso is in the Guji zone of Sidamo, in the southern part of the Oromia region, bordering Sidama and Gedeo. The area has many pits from old gold mining, which leaves holes across the coffee-growing land and makes walking through the plantations genuinely hazardous. Shakisso is a unique growing area within Guji/Sidamo, remote from most coffee regions even inside Sidamo, and gold mining is another famous local product. Miners, land, and ethnic tensions left the region unstable in 2006, so the biggest challenge today is simply manpower to maintain the plantations and bring in the harvest.

Local smallholders began growing organic coffee here in 2001, working closely with medium-sized producers experienced in high-altitude forest coffee. It is one of the most distinctive micro-regions within Sidamo, and its coffee has consistently drawn market attention. Ninety Plus's legendary Nekisse originally means "nectar from Shakisso," taking both its origin and its name from the area.

Flavor Description

Lemon and citrus, bright crisp acidity; lemon, citrus, white grape juice, blackcurrant, and an Earl Grey tea finish.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Shakisso is a washed Sidamo, and if that clean, bright style is what you enjoy, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is the obvious companion: white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, a clean tea-like body, and an everyday price. It is the bean many drinkers meet as their first specialty coffee, and it holds up precisely because washing keeps the cup transparent.

FrontStreet Coffee's Gotiti cooperative lot tells the same story from a different village. It sits at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe in the Woka area, once part of the Woka cooperative under the YCFCU, and it split off as a single-origin lot as buyers began chasing traceability. Because the fruit is stripped before drying, the coffee's own aromatics come through more clearly: citrus and lemon acidity with elegant white florals and a bright, delicate overall profile.

If you want to see what the opposite processing choice does to a Yirgacheffe, try the Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry. Only fully ripe, all-red cherries are used, dried in the sun for three to five weeks and turned every two to three hours in the first few days so the fruit does not over-ferment. The result keeps the classic Yirgacheffe character but adds tropical fruit, berry juice, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy smoothness - a useful contrast to the clarity of a washed lot like Shakisso.