Sidamo Nectar Coffee Bean Characteristics & Sidamo Nectar Coffee Brewing Methods

Shakisso lies in the Guji zone of Ethiopia's Oromia region, on the border with Sidama and Gedeo. The area is pocked with old gold-mining pits, which makes simply walking between coffee plots hazardous — and Shakisso is remote even by Sidamo standards, far from most coffee-producing areas, with gold the region's other famous product. Miners, land disputes, and ethnic tensions made the region turbulent as recently as 2006, and its biggest problem today is the shortage of hands needed to maintain the groves and harvest the crop. Local smallholders began planting organic coffee here in 2001 and work closely with mid-sized producers, because they know best how to grow forest coffee at high altitude.

Dry Aroma

Sweet cherry, raisins, preserved fruit, preserved plums, dried pineapple, strawberry.

Wet Aroma

Cherry, cranberry, sweet orange, plum, blueberry, honey peach, lychee.

Tasting Notes

The entry is like sweet, juicy honey peach with bright pineapple acidity. The mid-palate fills the mouth with dense layers of cranberry, blueberry, strawberry, pineapple, and dried fruit, and the finish brings lychee and plum with a dried-fruit viscosity. The whole cup is a tropical fruit storm — elegant yet dominant, and, as the name Nectar promises, like falling into an ocean of honeyed sweetness.

Brewing Method

Hand-pour: 15g of coffee at medium-fine grind (Fuji ghost-tooth burr, setting 3.5), V60 dripper, water at 91-93°C. Pour 30g of water to bloom for 27 seconds, then pour to 105g and stop. Once the water level in the coffee bed drops to half, continue pouring slowly to 225g total, avoiding the tail. Ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Lot Details

Ethiopia Sidamo Natural G1

Country: Ethiopia

Grade: G1

Zone: Guji

Roast level: medium-light

Processing: natural

Variety: local landrace

Region: Shakicha, Shakisso

Flavor notes: cranberry, sweet orange, plum, blueberry

Shelf life: 90 days

Net weight: 227g

Shakisso stands apart within Guji and Sidamo alike — remote, unstable at times, yet producing coffee of singular character. Ninety Plus's legendary Nekisse also comes from this area. And the name Nectar means exactly what it says: search "Guji" on Coffee Review and you'll find more than ten reviews scoring above 92 points, several of them at 94 and 95.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this fruit-storm profile is what you crave, FrontStreet Coffee's natural Huakui from the Hambella region of Guji, Sidamo is the natural next cup. The Huakui farm spans 200 hectares, and its cherries — dried whole on raised beds for 21 days, turned constantly for even drying and hand-sorted every three to five days to remove defective or moldy fruit — produce a medium-light roast of astonishing intensity: pale fermented wine aromatics, florals, citrus, and mango over a rich, complex body, with honey sweetness, cocoa depth, a whisper of spice, and a finish that simply refuses to quit. Like Shakisso's Nectar, it is a Guji natural that shows just how far sun-dried Ethiopian coffee can travel beyond "coffee as usual" — brew both at 91-93°C, 1:15, and taste the high-scoring Guji style for yourself.