What is Sidamo Mocha Coffee? How Should You Drink Sidamo Coffee?

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Ethiopia is the country where coffee was first discovered, and wild coffee plants still grow in its original forests for farmers to harvest. Although Ethiopia has grappled with poverty, drought and long-running conflict, it remains one of the world's most important coffee producers in both quality and yield, and in recent years it has ranked among the very finest coffee-producing countries.

Ethiopia has two standout producing regions: Yirgacheffe and Sidamo. Sidamo sits in a highland area in southern Ethiopia. Most Mocha coffee is generally roasted with a city roast, and Sidamo offers balanced acidity and a suitable body. Locals in Ethiopia often begin the day with a cup of Mocha coffee for energy and vitality.

Ethiopia's grading system is comparatively simple: coffee is divided into a Special grade, usually reserved for washed Yirgacheffe and Sidamo, followed by Grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Coffee processed with the washed method has a mild, understated aroma, a soft, subtle lemon acidity and high flavor consistency, winning on mouthfeel. Coffee processed with the natural method has a strong, prominent aroma, less obvious lemon acidity and complex, varied flavors, excelling in floral or fruity notes.

Ethiopian natural beans often contain stray impurities such as small stones or twigs, so take extra care during grinding, though these minor flaws do not affect the taste. Most notably, Sidamo's Mocha coffee has a particularly low caffeine content, making it a naturally low-caffeine coffee. After enjoying the mild taste of a washed coffee, occasionally trying a pure natural coffee to experience that wild, untamed character is a fine choice.

Ethiopia is currently the fastest-growing country in coffee production and development. Different regions shape coffee through different processing methods, and even the same method can yield different aromas and tastes depending on the technique, which often causes confusion. Yirgacheffe and Sidamo natural beans, for instance, smell quite different. Yirgacheffe natural beans hold more moisture, mostly small beans, with a relatively low, stable aroma and a thicker mouthfeel, while Sidamo's natural beans carry an impressive, intense strawberry aroma but a thinner mouthfeel.

Brewing Recommendation

FrontStreet Coffee recommends brewing with water at 89-90°C, which brings out cocoa and chocolate aromas and a caramel-cake sweetness, with a mellow, round and pure taste.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The easiest entry into the region is a classic washed Yirgacheffe. Yirgacheffe is a small town in southern Ethiopia, in the Sidama province, at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters, with coffee trees planted above 1,800 meters, making it one of the highest coffee regions in the world. It was historically a wetland, and its highly distinctive white florals and lemon-citrus acidity turned "Yirgacheffe" into a byword for Ethiopian specialty coffee. By 2010 its fame had grown so great that the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange separated it from the Sidamo region, which is how the Yirgacheffe coffee now known around the world came to be.

FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe daily bean is the classic introduction, known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity and a tea-like quality; its very affordable price has made it the first bean many people try when they start drinking specialty coffee. For a step up, FrontStreet Coffee's Gutingting cooperative coffee comes from Gutingting village. Yirgacheffe town actually contains many smaller zones and villages, some with seasoned cooperatives and mature processing skills, and the most representative is the washed Gutingting cooperative. It sits in the Worka area at the southeastern end of Yirgacheffe and was originally part of the Worka cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Union (YCFCU); as buyers chased traceability, it was singled out as a "single origin." Gutingting follows the most traditional washed processing, and the coffee has none of the traditional bitter character, carrying instead fresh, bright citrus and lemon acidity and jasmine fragrance that wins people over at the first sip.

FrontStreet Coffee's Sun-Dried Red Cherry shows the other side of Yirgacheffe. It uses a whole-red-cherry natural process: only fully ripe, sound cherries are harvested, screened once at the processing station, then laid straight on raised beds to dry, turned every two to three hours in the first days to prevent uneven heating and over-fermentation. After three to five weeks of sun-drying, the outer fruit is scraped off by machine and the beans are moved to storage. Because the fruit dries with the cherry still on the bean, the coffee keeps the classic Yirgacheffe character while gaining the tropical fruit of a natural: citrus acidity, berry juice, honeyed sweetness and a creamy smoothness. To brew it, FrontStreet Coffee suggests a V60 at 90-91°C, 15g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio and a grind of setting 10 on an EK43s, about the size of fine sugar (80% passing a #20 sieve). Start with a 30g pour and a 30-second bloom, then pour 95g (to about 125g) over roughly one minute, and when the water drops to two-thirds of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (to about 225g) by 1:35; the brew finishes dripping at 2:00-2:10.