Sidamo Honey Flavor, Taste and Aroma - Sidamo Coffee Varieties and Prices

Pour-over Whisper Recipe

Use 15g of coffee ground medium-fine (Fuji ghost-tooth burr grinder set to 3.5) in a V60 dripper with water at 91-93°C. Bloom with 30g of water for 27 seconds, then pour to 105g and pause. Once the level has dropped by half, pour slowly to a total of 225g, keeping clear of the tail end. Ratio 1:15, total extraction time 2:00.

Grading System

Washed Processing

Grade 1; Grade 2 (G1 is above G2)

Natural Processing

Grade 1, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5 (G1 is above G3, which is above G4, which is above G5)

Coffee Origin Information

Region: Oromia, Ethiopia

Variety: Ethiopian heirloom

Altitude: 2,000 meters

Processing Method: Washed

Shelf Life: 90 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk coffee beans

Roast Level: Green to roasted coffee beans

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Origin: Ethiopia

Roast Degree: Light roast

Ethiopian Coffee Cultivation

Ethiopia farms coffee in many different ways, from wild forest stands and semi-developed land to traditionally managed small plots and modern plantations. Roughly half of the crop grows above 1,500 meters. On that basis the country is split into nine major coffee regions: five specialty zones — Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Harar, Limmu, and Lekempti — and four commercial regions — Djimmah, Illubabor, Tepi, and Bebeka. Each area leans on either natural or washed processing, and the choice shapes the flavor. Today natural processing accounts for about 80% of the crop, washed for about 20%.

Processing Method

This micro-lot starts with hand sorting to select 100% Red Cherry. The cherries are then depulped on Agared equipment, and the beans are fermented with their mucilage intact for 36 hours in fermentation tanks, followed by a 4-hour soak. After drying on raised beds measuring 30 by 1.8 meters, the beans are hulled and hand-sorted up to G1 grade, then packed in GrainPro liners inside outer jute sacks.

Oromia Region Heritage

Oromia is one of the world's original coffee homelands. The indigenous Oromo people were among the first anywhere to use coffee as food, going back to the 5th century AD. The region lies roughly between 3° and 15° north latitude and 33° to 40° east longitude, and it is renowned for ancient plant species and extraordinary biodiversity. This is where coffee was born. For the local Oromo, coffee is not only drink and food but also a pillar of trade, a local stimulant, and an important instrument for keeping the peace.

Flavor Profile

Clear notes of wild ginger flower and bergamot, with a hint of blackcurrant. The finish carries raisin sweetness, and the overall impression is reminiscent of Earl Grey tea.

Ethiopian Coffee Grading

Ethiopian beans are graded by defect percentage across six main levels, G1 through G6. Under this system the highest grades for washed coffee are G1 and G2, while natural processing tops out at G1 and G3.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you enjoy the bright, tea-like side of Ethiopia, FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe house lot is the easiest place to begin. It is the bean many drinkers buy first on their way into specialty coffee, known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a clean tea-like body, all at a price that lets you drink it every day. The town of Yirgacheffe sits in southern Ethiopia's Sidamo province at about 1,700-2,100 meters, with trees planted above 1,800 meters, which makes it one of the highest coffee-growing areas on earth. Its white florals and lemon-citrus acidity grew so well known that in 2010 the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange finally split it away from Sidamo as its own origin.

Yirgacheffe divides into many smaller zones and villages, and its established cooperatives tend to take the flavor a level higher. FrontStreet's Guodingding Cooperative lot is the best illustration: set in the Worka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe, it was once part of the Worka cooperative under the YCFCU union before traceability-minded buyers pulled it out as a single-origin lot. It follows the most traditional washed route, and drinkers often call it Yirgacheffe's last pure land — clean citrus and lemon acidity and jasmine perfume, with none of the bitterness people associate with darker cups.

For more fruit and weight, FrontStreet's sun-dried Red Cherry picks only fully ripe, sound cherries, screens them, then dries them on raised beds and turns them every two to three hours during the first days so they never ferment unevenly. After three to five weeks the dried pulp is machine-scraped away. The cup keeps the classic Yirgacheffe character while adding tropical fruit and a juicier texture: citrus acidity, berry juice, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy smoothness. To brew it, reach for a V60: 15g of coffee at 1:15 with water at 90-91°C, ground to an EK43s setting of 10 — fine-sugar texture, or about 80% passing a No. 20 sieve. Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, pour to roughly 125g by one minute, then, as the bed falls to two-thirds, add the remaining 100g to reach about 225g, finishing the pour near 1:35 and the drawdown at 2:00-2:10.