FrontStreet Coffee's Guide to Colombian Coffee Beans: Roasting Records, Selection, Grading, and Major Growing Regions

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When you visit FrontStreet Coffee, our baristas recommend coffee beans not only based on customers' preferences but also considering their mood and seasonal changes. During hot summers, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas recommend FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Gedeb. Whether brewed cold or hot, this coffee always brings a refreshing feeling to everyone. As we enter the crisp autumn season, baristas recommend FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian Sidra, which undergoes double anaerobic natural processing, giving it rich fruit and almond flavors that have left a deep impression on many customers. Now, let FrontStreet Coffee guide you through the story of how this coffee bean became famous.

The Rise of Sidra Coffee

At the 2022 World Barista Championship, champion barista Anthony Douglas chose Colombian Sidra coffee beans for his competition. Coincidentally, at the 2019 World Barista Championship, that year's champion Jooyeon Jeon also chose Sidra coffee (though from Ecuador). This made people start paying attention to what Sidra coffee actually is.

FrontStreet Coffee researched and found that Sidra coffee originally comes from Pichincha Province, Ecuador, where locals call this variety Sydra. According to research, Sidra is a laboratory variety, a hybrid cross between Typica and Red Bourbon. Later, through genetic comparison, it was discovered that Sidra coffee has similar genes to Ethiopian native varieties, so some scholars speculate that Sidra was hybridized from Ethiopian experimental research varieties exported and local Ecuadorian Bourbon coffee varieties. Currently, the Sidra variety is mainly grown in producing countries like Ecuador and Colombia.

Finca El Diviso Estate

Following the exposure from Anthony Douglas's competition, people began searching for the champion barista's coffee beans. The Sidra coffee beans used by Anthony came from Finca El Diviso in Colombia's Huila region.

Where is Finca El Diviso Estate?

Finca El Diviso is located in Huila, one of Colombia's most famous coffee regions; at an altitude of approximately 2,100 meters, covering an area of 14 hectares. This is a family-run coffee estate founded by Jose Uribe Lasso in 1996, with over 25 years of coffee cultivation experience.

Currently, it's mainly operated by Nestor Lasso, who is young and full of energy. His grandfather introduced him to the magnificent world of coffee, and his father inherited the farm with superior coffee cultivation abilities. Influenced by this family, Nestor continuously strives for excellence in coffee cultivation and processing, growing twelve varieties including Caturra, Colombia, Sidra, Castillo, Geisha, and Bourbon.

Nestor's family manages the estate together, continuously improving coffee bean quality, which in turn brings better returns to Nestor. They have successfully established a new large farm, cultivating and producing even higher quality coffee beans, constantly striving to become a great family estate.

For Nestor, Finca El Diviso represents a fortunate new beginning. He believes that Huila's land is very fertile, and any hardworking person can escape poverty by growing coffee crops on nutrient-rich soil.

Sidra's "Highlight Moments"

The reason Sidra rose to fame is largely due to the two World Barista Champions who "endorsed" it. The 2019 World Barista Championship (WBC) winner—South Korean competitor Jooyeon Jeon's chosen coffee bean was Sidra coffee from Colombia's La Palma y El Tucan estate. In the same competition, third-place finisher Cole Torode also chose a Sidra lot from this estate.

Last year's newly crowned World Barista Championship winner, Anthony Douglas from Australia, claimed the top prize with an anaerobic fermented Sidra lot from Colombia's Finca El Diviso. Following Anthony's victory, the popularity of Colombia's Finca El Diviso and the Sidra variety continued to rise in the specialty coffee community.

What are the Characteristics of Sidra Coffee?

Although genetic testing has shown that Sidra has genetic connections to Ethiopian coffee varieties, it is currently mainly grown in Colombia and Ecuador, at altitudes ranging from 1,650 to 1,800 meters. Additionally, some producing regions have small-scale plantings of Sidra varieties for experimental purposes.

Sidra plants have stout trunks that can reach up to 4 meters in height. They require appropriate shade when planted and are immune to multiple pests but susceptible to leaf rust and coffee berry disease. The leaves are long and narrow, with five-petaled flowers. The fruit distribution is dense, resulting in high yields, and the fruit is larger and rounder than most Arabica varieties; the green beans show an elongated shape, somewhat similar to Geisha.

Given that Sidra is currently still relatively scarce in cultivation and possesses floral and fruity characteristics comparable to Geisha, expressing flavors like peach, citrus, grape, and honey, with moderate acidity and a rounded mouthfeel, this also makes its price relatively high.

FrontStreet Coffee has also imported Sidra coffee beans from Finca El Diviso. This coffee bean undergoes double anaerobic washed processing, highlighting the coffee's rich acidity. FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-light roasting, and cupping notes show rich fruit flavors of apricot, citrus, and grape.

FrontStreet Coffee's Sidra Pour-over Recommendations

Dose: 15g
Ratio: 1:15
Water Temperature: 91°C
Grind Size: Medium-fine (80% pass-through on #20 sieve)
Pouring Technique: Three-stage pour

First stage: Pour 30ml and bloom for 30 seconds. Second stage: Using a small stream, pour in a circular motion to 120ml. When the water level drops to halfway, third stage: Using a small stream, pour in a circular motion to 90ml. Total extraction time is 2 minutes.

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