Sidamo Sun-Dried Guji Coffee Region Introduction - How to Brew Guji Coffee

Ethiopian Sidama Shakisso Natural

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Shakisso, Guji Zone

Altitude: 1800-2000 meters

Processing Method: Natural

Roast Level: Light roast

Coffee from Shakisso (also spelled Shakiso) is a genuinely distinctive cup, and the lots produced there regularly capture the market's attention. The legendary Ninety Plus bean Nekisse originally meant "Nectar from Shakisso"—both its producing region and its name derive from this area.

Variety: Local native Heirloom

Producer: Local smallholder farmers

The coffees of Sidama are astonishingly varied. Different soil compositions, local microclimates, and countless native heirloom varieties have given each town's coffee its own distinct differences and character. The Sidama region lies in southern Ethiopia, where agriculture dominates the local economy, and the coffee-growing areas ring the Great Rift Valley.

Shakisso, in the Guji Zone of southern Oromia, borders both Sidama and Gedeo. The area contains many mining pits originally dug for gold, leaving holes scattered across the coffee-growing region—making the walk between planting areas genuinely dangerous. Shakisso is a unique origin within Guji/Sidama: remote even by Sidama standards, far from most coffee-producing locations, and the region's other famous product is gold. Miners, land disputes, and ethnic tensions made the area unstable in 2006, so the biggest problem it faces today is a shortage of labor to maintain the growing areas and harvest the coffee. Local smallholders here began growing organic coffee in 2001 and work closely with medium-sized producers, who are well versed in cultivating forest coffee in highland terrain.

Flavor: Lemon, mango, blueberry, winey aroma

For pour-over Sidama: 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. Avoid the tail end of the extraction. The water-to-coffee ratio is 1:15, with a total extraction time of 2:00.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Ethiopia is the world's best-known specialty coffee origin—and as the birthplace of coffee, it hosts countless native varieties. For drinkers drawn to Shakisso's fruit-forward natural profile, FrontStreet Coffee offers two standout naturals.

FrontStreet Natural Huakui: from the Hambella district of Guji in Sidama, a 200-hectare farm using traditional natural processing. Mature cherries dry on raised beds for 21 days—turned constantly for even drying, with moldy or defective beans hand-removed every three to five days—then the dried husk is hulled off and the green beans are sorted once more for perfection. Dried with the pulp and skin still on, the coffee shows faint fermented wine aromatics, florals, citrus, and mango after a medium-light roast, with honey sweetness, a cocoa note laced with spice, a thick body, and a long finish.

FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Project Natural: naturals begin with culling any broken or moldy cherries, then roughly two weeks of sun-drying until moisture falls to 12%—letting the fruit's sugars permeate the bean. After milling, the beans pass density and color grading plus hand sorting. Every bean is a gem: pristine and elegant, with rich, captivating fruit aroma—peach, cocoa, honey, and lemon.