Sidamo G2 Coffee Pour-Over Data & Brewing Guide

For professional barista exchanges, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

Pour-over Sidamo: 15g of coffee, medium-fine grind (Fuji ghost-tooth burr grinder setting 3.5), V60 dripper, water temperature 91-93°C. First pour 30g of water and bloom for 27 seconds. Continue pouring to 105g, then pause. Wait until the water level drops halfway before pouring again. Slowly pour until reaching 225g total. Do not use the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Ethiopian Coffee Processing and Industry

Today the number of washing stations in Ethiopia keeps growing. Smallholders sell their harvested cherries to processing plants, where the beans are hulled and then sold through the auction system. From there they are transported to the Red Sea port of Assab in Eritrea and the port of Djibouti near the Gulf of Aden. Although coffee is the country's most important agricultural export, domestic consumption is also astonishing, at about 1,500,000 bags of 60kg annually, or 50% of total production. Wild coffee grows in the tropical rainforests of the southwestern highlands and is mostly hand-picked. Because of that, some local people destroy the natural rainforest to reach difficult, rugged mountain areas, either cutting or burning it, which severely affects the ecological balance.

Both washed and natural export beans are sent to Addis Ababa, the capital, and to the DIRE DAWA auction center in Harar province. The DIRE DAWA center typically exports natural Harar coffee from the region. At the auction house, information on beans from different farms is displayed daily so traders can buy, and several Ethiopian government officials enter and exit the center daily to inspect and grade. Each time, 3 kilograms of green beans are randomly sampled from the same shipment for inspection.

The Sidamo Coffee Region

Today large numbers of wild Arabica trees still grow across Ethiopia, at an average growing altitude of 4,200-6,800 feet. There is now a trend toward small-scale cultivation, generally with banana trees planted alongside for shade, but a lack of agricultural technology means herbicides and pesticides are used relatively little. Coffee is Ethiopia's main economic crop, the country's largest agricultural export, and an important industry, accounting for 60% of Ethiopia's total export value and supporting many small farms. Other important crops include sugarcane, bananas, and cotton. Coffee is also Ethiopia's largest and most important commodity export after petroleum, and Africa's largest Arabica export. In 1997 its total value was approximately $300 million. In production terms, 94% comes from small farms and 6% from government institutions. Because many farms are scattered and also grow other crops, exact figures have been hard to compile, but official statistics put the total coffee cultivation area at at least 400,000 hectares. The government encourages farmers to improve quality and productivity so they can expand commercial scale and increase output and exports.

The Sidamo growing region, at 1,400-2,200 meters, is a famous specialty coffee area in southern Ethiopia, bordering Kenya. Washed Sidamo beans appear light green, are not large, and have an oval shape with full fruit development. Average quality is excellent, with aromatic, mellow flavor. A single drop leaves an endless aftertaste and carries a wild beauty. Sidamo flavors are extremely diverse: different soil types, microclimates, and countless native varieties create obvious differences between towns. From 2010 to 2012, the region consistently scored 92-94 from the authoritative American coffee evaluation site CR, showing how extraordinary its green beans are. The area has towering mountains, highlands, plateaus, valleys, and plains, with diverse topography. The geology is fertile, well-drained volcanic soil, nearly two meters deep, with surface soil that is dark brown to brown. Its greatest advantage is that soil fertility is maintained through the cycling of organic matter, using fallen leaves from surrounding trees and plant residues as fertilizer.

Sidamo Coffee Characteristics

Unlike most African coffees, Sidamo has clear fruit acidity, a smooth texture, and delicate floral and herbal aromas. Washed Sidamo is elegant yet playful. The initial gentle, pleasant entry builds into a strong flavor impact with bright lemon acidity. The mouthfeel is uniquely mellow, with a distinctive, pleasing aftertaste that rises slowly in a lingering finish containing a special sweetness. The green beans are slightly grayish, some areas coarse and others fine. The acidity is both gentle and intense, the body appropriately rich, with sweet, spicy aromatics, making it one of the garden coffees of Ethiopia's southern highlands.

Coffee Information

Net weight: 227g
Shelf life: 90 days
Packaging: bulk coffee beans
Sugar content: sugar-free
Origin: Ethiopia
Roast degree: light roast

Sidamo G2 Washed

Country: Ethiopia
Grade: G2
Region: Sidamo
Roast level: light roast
Processing method: washed
Variety: local native varieties
Flavor notes: honey, citrus, lemon

Farmers harvest bright red cherries daily, with every two days' harvest forming one unit of coffee fruit sent or sold to washing stations. Cherries that do not go through a washing station typically undergo about 12 hours of natural fermentation, then are sun-dried and hulled. Farmers with slightly more means always try to send their cherries to washing stations to earn the "washed" designation and fetch better prices. At the washing stations, cherries undergo about 12 hours of soaking and fermentation to soften the pulp, then pass through water channels with stirring to separate the pulp from the beans, with the pulp discharged through gates along with the water.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To explore Ethiopia's southern regions, start with FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe, the classic entry-level specialty bean, with clear jasmine and bright citrus acidity and a light, elegant, tea-like body that drinks like a clean lemon tea.

Within Sidamo itself, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Huakui comes from Hambella in the Guji zone and is roasted medium-light. The traditional natural process gives it a light fermented wine aroma, florals, citrus, and mango, a rich, complex body, honey sweetness, a cocoa note with a hint of spice, and a long finish. FrontStreet Coffee's Hamasho 74158, also from Sidamo, is built mainly on the disease-resistant 74-series varieties from the Jimma Agricultural Research Center, offering a perfume-like lemon, strawberry, and star fruit aroma with clear strawberry, star fruit, and green grape sweetness.