What is Sidamo Coffee's Fine Washed Processing Method - Sidamo G1 Cupping Report and Flavor Introduction

FrontStreet Coffee - Ethiopia Sidamo G-1 Washed Beans

Origin Information

Region: Sidamo

Processing: Fine Washed

Variety: Arabica

About Ethiopian Processing Methods

Ethiopian coffees reach us in two main styles. The natural process dries freshly harvested coffee cherries whole in the sun, keeping the pulp and skin on throughout, which preserves more fruit flavor and sweetness in the beans. Ripe red cherries and half-red cherries are selected and spread out on drying fields; after roughly 2-4 weeks, once the beans' moisture content has fallen to 12%, hulling machines strip away the dried pulp and parchment to release the beans. The method is simple — none of the elaborate steps of washed processing — but it carries risks of mold and off-flavors along the way, with rich, mellow sweetness as the reward.

This particular bean, however, is a fine washed lot: the cherries are depulped, fermented, washed clean in channels, and dried with meticulous sorting, which is what gives washed Sidamo its celebrated clarity.

Flavor Profile

Dry Fragrance: Cinnamon, floral tea, and floral notes

Wet Aroma: Berries, caramel

Acidity: Peach acidity

Sweetness: Sugar

Body: Lingering sweet aftertaste

Aftertaste: Blueberry chocolate

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this washed Sidamo G1's clarity and sweetness appeal to you, the Yirgacheffe side of Ethiopia offers more of the same lineage. FrontStreet Coffee's Washed Yirgacheffe is the everyday classic: white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like finish — famously the first bean many people use to step into specialty coffee, thanks to its gentle elegance and friendly price.

For a more distinctive cooperative lot, FrontStreet Coffee's Guodingding Cooperative, from the Worka area at Yirgacheffe's southeastern edge, uses the same traditional washed process to even cleaner effect: citrus and lemon tones with elegant white florals, bright and delicate in every cup. And when you're ready to hear what natural processing sounds like by comparison, FrontStreet Coffee's Red Cherry Project natural delivers peach, cocoa, honey, and lemon with the deep fruit sweetness that only drying-in-the-fruit can bring.