Natural vs. Washed Sidamo Coffee Beans: Flavor Differences and Sidamo Coffee Price Guide

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Sidamo Coffee Beans Overview

Sidamo coffee beans grow in the southernmost Ethiopian highlands at elevations between 4,600-7,200 feet (Sidamo Province). This is a famous specialty coffee region in southern Ethiopia, bordering Kenya, located southeast of Jimma and directly south of the capital. Typically characterized by distinct sweetness, it is favored by many people. The annual production is about 225,000 bags/60kg. Sidamo coffee beans offer extremely diverse flavors, with different soil types, microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties. The production area features towering mountains, highlands, plateaus, valleys, and plains, with diverse topography. The local geology consists of nutrient-rich, well-drained volcanic soil, with soil depth reaching nearly two meters, and surface soil appearing dark brown or brown.

The greatest advantage of this region lies in maintaining soil fertility through organic material circulation, using fallen leaves from surrounding trees or plant residues as fertilizer. This creates noticeable differences and characteristics in the coffee produced by various towns. From 2010 to 2012, it continuously achieved high scores of 92-94 from the authoritative American coffee evaluation website CR. This demonstrates the exceptional quality of green beans from this production region.

Analysis of Two Different Green Bean Processing Methods

Coffee beans must immediately enter processing after harvest, otherwise they will begin to ferment and develop off-flavors. There are two processing methods: "natural drying" and "washed processing," each resulting in different flavor profiles. Natural processed beans have complete natural mellow flavors, gentle aromas, and more body/glutinosity; washed processing offers good mellowness, high aroma, and lively acidity.

Natural Processed Sidamo Coffee Beans

The beans are slightly smaller than Longberry, greenish-yellow in color. In Sidamo's natural drying fields, coffee is placed on hemp-net wooden racks, where workers take turns manually stirring the coffee under sunlight. Natural processed Sidamo is typically exported with G4 grading, while washed Sidamo, due to its more refined processing, is mostly exported with G2 grade.

Washed Processed Sidamo Coffee Beans

The green coffee beans are greenish with slight gray tones, with some areas being coarse and others fine. It possesses both soft and bright acidity, appropriate body intensity, sweet and spicy aromas, making it one of the garden coffees from the southern Ethiopian highlands. Unlike typical African coffees, Sidamo has clear fruit acidity, smooth mouthfeel, and delicate floral and grassy aromas.

Ethiopian Natural Processing Method (Raised Bed Natural Processing)

Traditional Ethiopian natural processing involved directly spreading wild-harvested coffee cherries on the ground for sun drying. This method had two disadvantages:

1. Beans were not specially selected and processed after harvest, with uneven appearance and maturity levels mixed together. The process was relatively crude, resulting in inconsistent coffee bean quality and prone to defective beans.
2. Coffee farmers typically found open spaces near their homes for processing, so the ground often contained impurities or dirt, and coffee could easily pick up foreign flavors.

The improved natural processing method addresses these two traditional disadvantages:

1. During harvesting, only fully ripe deep red coffee cherries are picked. Before sun drying, beans undergo defect screening at the processing plant to ensure relatively uniform size and maturity.
2. Next, raised wooden frames or entire trellis structures are used for sun drying, avoiding the risk of beans picking up foreign flavors from the ground. During the drying process, beans are carefully monitored to ensure even dehydration; every three to five days, coffee workers manually sort and remove defective or moldy beans. Therefore, by the time drying is complete and beans enter depulping, the beautifully dried deep red coffee cherries already have very few defects.

Production Region Introduction

Shakisso, located in Guji, southern Oromia region, borders Sidama and Gedeo. Shakisso's coffee possesses considerable uniqueness, and its produced coffee frequently gains market attention. The original meaning of Ninety Plus's legendary bean (nekisse) is "Nectar from Shakisso." Its production region and naming both come from Shakisso.

Local small farmers in this area began growing organic coffee in 2001 and closely cooperate with medium-sized coffee producers because they are familiar with how to grow forest coffee in highlands. It is one of the micro-regions with very distinct regional characteristics within the Sidamo production area. The coffee from this region possesses considerable uniqueness, and its produced coffee frequently gains market attention. The original meaning of Ninety Plus's legendary bean (nekisse) is "Nectar from Shakisso." Its production region and naming both come from Shakisso.

After obtaining green coffee beans, sometimes a final screening is performed to pursue perfect flavor, therefore this natural processed Sidamo coffee bean can achieve the highest G1 grade.

Cupping Notes

Dry Aroma Differences:

Natural Processed Sidamo Coffee Beans: Light fermented wine aroma, blueberry, and wine fragrance

Washed Processed Sidamo Coffee Beans: Citrus and jasmine flower aroma

[Using 8 grams of powder to 150ml of 94°C hot water in a cup, let coffee steep for 3-4 minutes until forming coffee grounds crust]

Flavor Differences:

Natural Processed Sidamo Coffee Beans: Natural processing is somewhat complex, with light fermented wine aroma. Caramel is heavier, making the flavor much more intense. Honey sweetness, cocoa notes with some spice, thick body with persistent aftertaste.

Washed Processed Sidamo Coffee Beans: Washed processing has brighter acidity, like citric acid, with lighter and fresher flavor. Citrus aroma is more obvious, with some Earl Grey tea sensation in the finish.

Similarity: Both have fruit acidity, similar to lemon and citrus fruits

Pour Over Sidamo Coffee Bean Parameters

Natural Processed Sidamo Coffee Beans:

Recommend using 15 grams for single serving, water temperature 89-90°C, Fuji grinder setting 4, V60 dripper, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15. First pour 30g water, bloom for 25s, second pour 120g water then stop, third pour to 225g total, discard tail water, extraction time around 2:05s.

Washed Processed Sidamo Coffee Beans:

Recommend using 15 grams for single serving, water temperature 86-87°C, Fuji grinder setting 3.5-4, V60 dripper, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15. First pour 30g water, bloom for 25s, second pour 120g water then stop, third pour to 225g total, discard tail water, extraction time around 2:10s.

Sidamo Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) roasted Sidamo Flower Champion coffee beans offer full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high cost performance - a 227-gram bag costs only 98 yuan. Calculating at 15 grams per cup, one bag can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 6 yuan. Compared to café prices that often run tens of yuan per cup, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473