Ethiopia Washed Sidamo G1 Shakiso Coffee Beans: Grading, Pricing, Green Beans and Roast Level

"Ethiopian Sidamo" is a single-origin coffee, an Arabica grown in the Sidamo province of Ethiopia. Like most African coffees, Ethiopian Sidamo has small grayish-green beans, but its distinguishing features are rich, spicy, wine-like or chocolate-like flavors and floral notes. The most distinctive flavors found in all Sidamo coffees are lemon and citrus, with bright, crisp acidity. Sidamo coffee includes Yirgacheffe coffee and Guji coffee, both of excellent quality.

Variety: Local Heirloom

Producer: Local Small Farmers

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

Sidamo

Sidamo's coffee flavors are extremely diverse, because different soil compositions, regional microclimates and countless native varieties create significant differences between the coffees of each town and region. The Sidamo region lies in southern Ethiopia, with agriculture as the main industry, and its coffee-growing areas sit around the Great Rift Valley.

Factory Region Introduction

Shakisso lies in the Guji region of Sidamo, in the southern part of Oromia, bordering Sidama and Gedeo. The area has many mine pits, originally used for gold mining, so this coffee-growing area is full of holes, which makes walking through the plots dangerous. Shakisso is a unique producing area within Guji and Sidamo, and even within Sidamo it is remote from most coffee origins. Another famous local product is gold. Factors such as miners, land and ethnicity also caused unrest in the region in 2006. The biggest problem the area faces now is the manpower needed to maintain the growing areas and harvest the coffee.

Local small farmers here began growing organic coffee in 2001, working closely with medium-sized producers because they know how to grow forest coffee in highland areas. It is one of the micro-regions with very distinctive character within Sidamo. Coffee from this region has considerable uniqueness, and the coffee produced has repeatedly drawn market attention. The original meaning of Ninety Plus's legendary bean Nekisse is "Nectar from Shakisso," and both its producing area and its name come from Shakisso.

Flavor Description: Lemon and citrus, bright and crisp acidity, lemon, citrus, white grape juice, blackcurrant, Earl Grey tea finish

Coffee beans from Indonesia and Africa use this grading method, based on the proportion of defective beans. Indonesian beans are mainly divided into 6 grades, G1-G6. The highest grades for washed beans are G1 and G2; the highest grades for natural beans are G1 and G3.

What Does This Mean?

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

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

Points to Note:

a) Whether washed or natural, both can have Grade-1, with the condition being "zero" defects and a Premium Cup. Whether washed or natural, Grade-1 is a rating reserved for the best of the best specialty coffees or Cup of Excellence coffees.

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

c) Beans of the same grade, such as Limu Grade-2, can be either good or bad, depending on the sorting level and investment of the exporter.

d) Based on the current "zero" defect requirement, Grade-1 beans, including both washed and natural, are extremely rare, because processing costs are very high and very few suppliers will produce them.

Hand-Pour Sidamo

15g of coffee, a medium-fine grind (Fuji RYU 3.5 grind setting), a V60 dripper and water at 91-93°C. First pour 30g of water and let it bloom for 27 seconds. Pour to 105g and pause; when the water level in the coffee bed drops halfway, continue pouring slowly to 225g. Avoid the tail. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Ingredients: Self-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, Guji Zone

Roast Level: Light Roast

Processing Method: Washed

Washed coffee is less likely to show wild characteristics and has a pure, refreshing quality, suiting City to Full City roast levels. Some excellent Ethiopian washed beans show distinct uplifted lemon, citrus essential oils, jasmine florals and honey, with more prominent acidity and a lighter body.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

This washed Shakiso shows the crisp, tea-like clarity that defines Ethiopian washed coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe daily bean is the classic everyday example, with jasmine florals, bright lemon-citrus acidity and a light body. FrontStreet Coffee's Guodingding cooperative, a single-lot coffee from the Worka area, sharpens that profile with more perfume and a clean, sweet finish. If you want to compare this cup against a natural, FrontStreet Coffee's sun-dried Red Cherry Plan trades the tea-like precision for jammy berry and honey.