Sidamo Shakisso Flavor and Aroma: Shakisso Coffee Varieties and Prices

Flavor Description

Lemon and citrus, with a bright, crisp acidity, plus notes of white grape juice and blackcurrant, and an Earl Grey tea finish.

The Ethiopian Grading System

Ethiopian coffee is graded by defect ratio. Beans are sorted mainly into 6 grades, G1 through G6. For washed coffees the top grades are G1 and G2; for natural (sun-dried) coffees the top grades are G1 and G3.

What the Grades Mean

In practice, the hierarchy looks like this:

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

Natural (sun-dried): Grade-1, then Grades 3 through 5 (G1 > G3 > G4 > G5)

Important Notes

a) Whether washed or natural, a coffee can reach Grade-1 only under the condition of "zero" defects and a Premium Cup. Grade-1, in either process, is a rating reserved for the best specialty lots and Cup of Excellence coffees.

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

c) Even within a single grade—Limu Grade-2, for instance—quality can vary widely, depending on how much the exporter invests in sorting.

d) Given today's "zero" defect requirements, Grade-1 beans (washed or natural) are extremely rare: processing costs are very high, and only a handful of suppliers produce them.

Ethiopian Sidamo Shakisso Washed

Country: Ethiopia

Grade: G1

Region: Shakisso, Guji Zone

Roast Degree: Light roast

Processing Method: Washed

Washed coffees rarely carry wild or fermented flavors; they are clean and refreshing, and suit roasts from City to Full City. Ethiopia's finest washed lots can show a lifted lemon note, citrus oils, jasmine florals, and honey—marked acidity paired with a lighter body.

Pour-over recipe for Sidamo: 15g of coffee, ground medium-fine (setting 3.5 on the Fuji ghost burr grinder), V60 dripper, water temperature 91-93°C. Pour 30g of water first for a 27-second bloom, then pour up to 105g and pause. Once the water level in the bed drops to half, resume and pour slowly up to 225g, skipping the tail end of the brew. Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15, total extraction time 2:00.

"Ethiopian Sidamo" is a single-origin style of Arabica grown in Ethiopia's Sidamo province. Like most African coffees, Sidamo features small, grayish beans, but it stands out for its rich, spicy, wine-like or chocolate flavors and floral aromas. The most characteristic notes across all Sidamo coffees are lemon and citrus with a bright, crisp acidity. The Sidamo family includes Yirgacheffe and Guji coffees, both of excellent quality.

Coffee Details

Variety: Local native Heirloom

Producer: Local smallholder farmers

Flavor: White grape juice, citrus, Earl Grey tea

The Sidamo Region

Sidamo's flavors are extraordinarily diverse. Different soils, microclimates, and countless native varieties mean the coffee from each town and district differs markedly in character. The Sidamo region lies in southern Ethiopia, where agriculture dominates and the coffee lands ring the East African Rift Valley.

Introducing Shakisso

Shakisso sits in the Guji zone of Sidamo, in southern Oromia, bordering Sidama and Gedeo. The area is dotted with mining pits left over from earlier gold mining, so there are literally holes throughout the coffee landscape—walking through the growing areas can be genuinely hazardous. Shakisso is a distinctive micro-region within Guji/Sidamo: even by Sidamo standards it is remote from most coffee-producing areas, and gold is its other famous product. Miners, land disputes, and ethnic tensions also destabilized the region in 2006. Today the biggest challenge here is simply securing enough manpower to maintain the growing areas and harvest the coffee.

Local smallholder farmers began planting organic coffee here in 2001 and work closely with medium-sized producers, who know best how to grow forest coffee in the highlands. It is one of the micro-regions with the most distinct regional character in all of Sidamo, and its coffee's uniqueness has repeatedly drawn market attention. Ninety Plus's legendary lot, Nekisse, literally means "Nectar from Shakisso"—both its name and its provenance point straight back to this area.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

New to Ethiopian coffee? Start with FrontStreet Coffee's classic washed Yirgacheffe daily bean. It is prized for its white jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and tea-like finish, and its approachable price has made it the first specialty bean for countless coffee drinkers—the fastest way to understand what makes Ethiopian washed coffees so clean and refreshing.

For something fruitier, the FrontStreet Coffee natural Red Cherry is an excellent step up: only fully ripe, defect-free cherries are harvested, screened at the station, and laid on raised beds to dry in the sun, turned every 2-3 hours during the first few days to prevent over-fermentation. After three to five weeks of drying, the outer pulp is removed by machine and the beans go to warehouse. Because the fruit dries in contact with the bean, the cup pairs its classic Yirgacheffe citrus acidity with tropical fruit—berry juiciness, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy smoothness.

Brewing suggestion: V60 dripper, 90-91°C water, 15g dose at a 1:15 ratio, ground to fine-granulated-sugar texture (80% pass-through on a #20 sieve). Pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then add 95g (scale reading about 125g) within about a minute; once the level falls to two-thirds of the bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale reading about 225g), finishing around 1 minute 35 seconds. Drainage completes at 2:00-2:10—lift the dripper and enjoy.