Sidamo G2 Coffee Growing Region Introduction | How to Brew Sidamo Coffee

Today, more and more washing stations are appearing across Ethiopia, and the trend keeps growing. Small farmers sell their harvested cherries to processing plants, where the beans are hulled and resold through the auction system, then shipped out via the Port of Assab in Eritrea on the Red Sea, as well as the Port of Djibouti near the Gulf of Aden. Although coffee is the country's most important agricultural export, domestic consumption is also astonishing: approximately 1,500,000 bags of 60kg, accounting for 50% of total production.

Wild coffee grows in the tropical rainforests of the southwestern plateau and is mostly hand-picked. Precisely because of that, many locals have maliciously destroyed naturally formed rainforest areas, whether by logging or burning, to reach rugged, hard-to-access mountain regions, which has seriously damaged the ecological balance.

Both washed and natural processed beans, once exported, are sent to the capital Addis Ababa and to Dire Dawa in Harar province for auction and export. The Dire Dawa auction center typically handles the natural processed Harar coffee of that region. At the auction house, information on coffee from different farms is posted daily to facilitate trading, and several government-appointed officials come and go daily for inspection and grading. Each time, 3kg of green beans is randomly sampled from a shipment for examination.

Ethiopian Coffee Origins and Characteristics

Large numbers of wild Arabica coffee varieties still grow across Ethiopia, typically cultivated at altitudes between 4,200-6,800 feet. A gradual trend toward small-scale cultivation has emerged, generally with banana trees planted alongside for shade. Because agricultural technology is limited, herbicides and pesticides see little use.

Coffee is Ethiopia's principal economic crop, the country's largest agricultural export and a vital industry. It accounts for 60% of Ethiopia's total export value and sustains the livelihoods of many small farms. Other major exports include sugar, bananas, and cotton. Coffee is also Ethiopia's largest and most important commodity export after petroleum, and Africa's largest Arabica export, with a total value of approximately $300 million in 1997.

In terms of total production, 94% comes from small farms and 6% from government institutions. Because many farms are scattered and intercropped with other crops, accurate statistics have been difficult to compile, but official figures indicate a total coffee cultivation area of at least 400,000 hectares. The Ethiopian government encourages farmers to improve quality and productivity to help them expand commercially and increase production and exports.

The Sidamo Region: Ethiopia's Premium Coffee Zone

The Sidamo growing region, at altitudes of 1,400-2,200 meters, is a famous specialty coffee area in southern Ethiopia bordering Kenya. Washed Sidamo coffee appears light green, with beans that are not large but oblong and full. Average quality is excellent, with a rich, mellow aroma; a single sip offers an endless aftertaste with a wild beauty.

Sidamo's coffee flavors are extremely diverse. Different soils, microclimates, and countless native varieties have created clear differences between the coffees of its various towns. From 2010-2012, the region continuously earned high scores of 92-94 from the authoritative American coffee review site CR, demonstrating just how extraordinary these green beans are.

The terrain features towering mountains, highlands, plateaus, valleys, and plains. The geology consists of nutrient-rich, well-drained volcanic soil reaching nearly two meters deep, dark brown or brown at the surface. The region's greatest advantage lies in maintaining soil fertility through the cycling of organic matter, using fallen leaves from surrounding trees and plant root residues as fertilizer.

The Unique Flavor Profile of Sidamo Coffee

Unlike typical African coffees, Sidamo pairs clear fruit acidity with a smooth mouthfeel and delicate floral, grassy aromas. Washed Sidamo is elegant yet playful: the entry is mild and pleasant, then builds into a striking taste impact with bright lemon-citrus acidity. The mouthfeel is uniquely rich and mellow, with a distinctive, pleasing aftertaste, and the slowly rising finish carries a special sweetness.

The green beans are slightly grayish, coarse in some areas and fine in others. The acidity balances soft and strong qualities, the body density is well judged, and the coffee shows sweet, spicy aromas. It is one of the garden coffees of the southern Ethiopian highlands.

Coffee Processing Methods

Farmers harvest bright red cherries daily, with every two days' picking forming one lot that is sent or sold to washing stations for processing. Cherries that never reach a washing station are typically fermented naturally for about 12 hours, then sun-dried and hulled. Either way, farmers with any means try to send their coffee to washing stations in order to earn the "washed" designation and sell at better prices.

At the washing stations, cherries soak and ferment for about 12 hours to soften the pulp, then pass through water channels where agitation separates the pulp from the beans, and the pulp is discharged through gates.

Coffee Details

Grade: 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

Brewing Recommendations

To pour over Sidamo coffee: use 15g of coffee ground to a medium-fine consistency (Fuji Royal grinder at setting 3.5) in a V60 dripper with water at 91-93°C. First pour 30g of water and bloom for 27 seconds; continue pouring to 105g and pause. Once the level in the coffee bed drops to halfway, pour again slowly up to 225g, avoiding the tail end. Use a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15, with a total extraction time of 2:00.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and home to countless native varieties, and Sidamo's neighbors offer some of the finest expressions of that heritage. FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is the ideal introduction: this small southern town, cool and misty with spring-like weather year-round, produces a light, elegant, tea-like cup of clear jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity, like a clean, refreshing lemon tea. For more traceable lots, the Gedding Cooperative, founded in 2012 by about 300 farmers in the Worka area at Yirgacheffe's southeastern tip, peels the fruit before drying, yielding a bright, delicate profile of citrus, lemon, and elegant white florals.

If you prefer natural-processed fruitiness, FrontStreet Coffee's Huakui comes from Hambella in Guji, Sidamo: the whole farm spans 200 hectares, and workers dry the cherries on raised beds for 21 days, turning them constantly and hand-removing defective beans every three to five days. Roasted medium-light, it offers a light fermented wine note, florals, citrus, and mango, with honeyed sweetness, cocoa, a touch of spice, and a thick body with a lasting finish. For a distinctive single variety, the Hama Shu washing station's 74158, from the JARC 74 series of disease-resistant varieties, shows sweet notes of perfume lemon, strawberry, star fruit, and green grape with gentle florals, while Kafa Forest coffee, grown wild under shade at 1400-2100 meters, offers white florals, bright lemon acidity, sweet orange, bergamot, and a green-tea-like finish.