Sidamo Honey Flavor: Proper Brewing Methods & Sidamo Coffee Bean Pricing

About This Coffee

Ethiopia is where coffee began, and that heritage still shows in the cup. Beans from the country's southern belt, Sidamo among them, are prized for their perfume and their clean, tea-like structure. This lot is a washed Ethiopian coffee, graded G1 and roasted light. The pages below cover how it tastes, how Ethiopian coffee is graded, how FrontStreet Coffee brews it, and where the bean was grown.

Flavor Description

Distinct wild ginger and bergamot notes with black currant undertones. The finish carries the sweetness of raisins, and the overall profile is reminiscent of Earl Grey tea.

Ethiopian Coffee Bean Grading

Ethiopian coffee is graded by defect ratio, a method that runs from G1 down to G6. The highest grades for washed beans are G1 and G2, while for natural processed beans the highest grades are G1 and G3.

Hand Brewing Instructions

Use 15g of coffee, ground medium-fine (Fuji ghost-tooth grinder setting 3.5), a V60 filter cup, and water at 91-93°C. First pour 30g of water and let it bloom for 27 seconds. Continue pouring until you reach 105g, then pause. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half, then pour slowly again until you reach 225g. Discard the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio is 1:15, with an extraction time of 2:00.

Grading System

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

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

Coffee Origin Information

Region: Oromia, Ethiopia

Variety: Ethiopian heirloom varieties

Altitude: 2000m

Processing Method: Washed

Product Specifications

Shelf Life: 90 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk coffee beans

Roast Level: Roasted beans

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Origin: Ethiopia

Roast Degree: Light roast

Ethiopian Coffee Cultivation

Ethiopia grows coffee in several different ways, from extensive wild coffee forests and semi-developed land to traditionally managed small plots and modern plantations. Roughly 50% of the crop grows at altitudes above 1,500 meters. These four production systems divide the country into nine major coffee-producing regions: five specialty areas, namely Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, Harar, Limu and Lekempti, plus four general commercial bean regions, Djimah, Illubabor, Tepi and Bebeka. Each region relies on either natural or washed processing, and the method leaves its mark on flavor. At present, natural processing accounts for about 80% of output and washed processing for about 20%.

Processing Method Details

This micro-lot begins with the manual selection of 100% Red Cherry fruit. An Agared depulper then removes the skin and pulp, and the mucilage-coated beans are fermented in tanks for 36 hours, followed by 4 hours of soaking. They are then spread on 30 x 1.8 meter drying beds to dry before hulling. After hand screening to reach G1 grade, the beans are packed into GrainPro bags inside outer jute bags.

The Oromia Region: Birthplace of Coffee

Oromia is one of the world's coffee origins. The indigenous Oromo people here were the first anywhere to use coffee as food, as far back as the 5th century AD. Oromia lies roughly between 3°-15°N latitude and 33°-40°E longitude, and it is world-renowned for the originality of its plant species and its biodiversity. This is where coffee was born. For the local Oromo, coffee is not simply a drink and a food; it is also an important part of trade, a local stimulant, and a tool for keeping peace.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The washed Sidamo above shows what Ethiopia does with clarity and restraint, and FrontStreet Coffee's range lets you explore the other side of the same country. For the fruitier, more aromatic end of Ethiopia, the FrontStreet Huakui natural comes from Hambella in the Guji zone of Sidamo, where a 200-hectare farm dries whole cherries on raised beds for 21 days. Workers turn the fruit constantly for even drying and hand-sort out any moldy or defective cherries every three to five days. The result is a light-medium roast with soft fermented-wine notes, florals, citrus and mango, a honeyed sweetness, a cocoa edge and a thick, lingering body.

Also from Sidamo comes the FrontStreet Hamasho natural, produced at the Hamasho processing station, which has earned a permanent place on Ethiopia's green-bean competition lists. The station works mainly with the disease-resistant 74-series varieties released by the JARC agricultural research center, and the 74158 line carries smaller beans with striking floral and fruit aromatics. The cup opens with perfume-like lemon, strawberry and star fruit before a gentle floral note rises. If you would rather stay with a washed profile, the FrontStreet washed Gedeb cooperative coffee, grown in the Worka area of southeastern Yirgacheffe, delivers citrus and lemon acidity with elegant white florals and no bitterness at all. Different lots, different methods, but the same idea: a careful wash or a patient natural dry, and a flavor that speaks plainly of where it grew.