Sidamo Natural Process Guji Coffee Brands and Guji Coffee Brewing Steps

Shakisso Coffee: A Unique Ethiopian Treasure

Shakisso coffee is remarkably distinctive, and the lots it produces consistently draw market attention. The legendary Nekisse bean from Ninety Plus takes its name from "Nectar from Shakisso"—both the coffee and its name trace back to this very place.

Coffee Details

Variety: Local Heirloom

Producer: Local smallholder farmers

The coffees of Sidama are extraordinarily diverse. Different soil compositions, local microclimates, and countless native heirloom varieties mean that each town and district produces coffee with its own distinct character. The Sidama region lies in southern Ethiopia, an area dominated by agriculture, with coffee growing zones clustered around the Great Rift Valley.

Shakisso: Coffee and Gold

Shakisso sits in the Guji Zone of Oromia, bordering both Sidama and Gedeo. The area is dotted with mining pits originally dug for gold, and those holes scattered across the coffee-growing landscape make walking between plots genuinely hazardous. Shakisso is a one-of-a-kind origin within Guji/Sidama—remote even by Sidama standards, far from most other coffee-producing areas—and the region's other famous product is gold itself. Miner activity, land disputes, and ethnic tensions left the area unstable in 2006, and today its greatest challenge is simply finding enough hands to maintain the plots and harvest the coffee.

Local smallholder farmers began growing organic coffee here in 2001, working closely with medium-sized producers who understand how to cultivate forest coffee at high altitude.

Flavor Profile

Lemon, mango, blueberry, and winey aromatics.

Brewing Recommendations

For pour-over Sidamo: use 15g of coffee ground medium-fine (Komachi grinder, setting 3.5), a V60 dripper, and water at 91-93°C. Start with a 30g bloom for 27 seconds, then pour up to 105g and pause. Once the water level drops to half, continue pouring slowly until you reach 225g in total. Cut off the tail of the extraction. Use a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio with a total extraction time of 2:00.

Origin Information

Product: Ethiopian Sidama Shakisso Natural

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Shakisso, Guji Zone

Altitude: 1800-2000 meters

Processing Method: Natural process

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, home to countless native varieties and a treasure land in the eyes of coffee lovers—a place whose flavors keep you coming back. If Shakisso's blueberry-and-wine profile appeals to you, these two natural-processed lots from FrontStreet Coffee are natural next steps.

FrontStreet Natural Huakui: grown in the Hambella district of Guji, Sidama, on a 200-hectare farm using traditional natural processing. To keep the drying cherries from molding or picking up earthy off-flavors, workers spread them on raised beds for 21 days, turning them constantly for even drying and hand-sorting out defective beans every three to five days. Because the beans dry with the fruit and skin intact, a medium-light roast reveals faint fermented wine notes, florals, citrus, and mango—a far richer, more complex cup with honey sweetness, cocoa undertones, gentle spice, and a thick body with a long finish.

FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Project Natural: in natural processing, damaged or moldy cherries are removed first, then the rest dry in the sun for about two weeks until the moisture content falls to 12%. The dried pulp, mucilage, and parchment are then milled off, and the beans pass density and color checks plus multiple rounds of hand sorting. The result is a bean of impeccable cleanliness and captivating fruit aroma: peach, cocoa, honey, and lemon.