Which Continent Does Sidamo Come From? Is the 2024 New Season Guji 8.0 Coffee Delicious?

Sidamo is a province in Ethiopia, with its growing region located on the fertile highlands of the East African Rift Valley. It is one of Ethiopia's three registered trademark coffee-growing regions, featuring abundant rainfall, suitable temperatures, fertile soil, and significant day-night temperature variations, providing excellent conditions for coffee cultivation. Approximately 60% of the coffee beans produced here are wet-processed. Sidamo coffee is renowned for its rich flavor, full body, bright acidity, as well as floral and citrus notes, making it quite popular among coffee enthusiasts who love fruit-forward and aromatic coffees. This region also produces some of Ethiopia's highest-altitude coffees.

Ethiopia's geographical environment is exceptionally suitable for coffee growth. Coffee is primarily cultivated on the southern highlands at altitudes between 1,100 and 2,300 meters. Ethiopian coffee is harvested once a year, with red coffee cherries maturing and ready for picking from September to December. The new season's coffee begins exporting in November-December. Currently, Ethiopia still uses traditional cultivation methods: manual care of coffee trees, consistently adhering to the principle of not using harmful pesticides and herbicides. Instead, organic fertilizers (mainly fallen leaves, withered grass, and animal manure) are used. Ethiopia enjoys the reputation of being the world's only pollution-free green organic coffee producer.

Ethiopia's Main Coffee-Growing Regions

Ethiopia's coffee primarily comes from eight major regions: Lekempti, Limu, Illubabor, Djimmah, Harar, Teppi/Bebeka, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe.

Sidamo - Guji Region

As one of Ethiopia's main specialty coffee-producing regions, Sidamo is located in southern Ethiopia, spanning the highlands south of Lake Awasa in the East African Rift Valley, with altitudes ranging from 1,500 to 2,200 meters. The significant day-night temperature variations extend the maturation time for coffee beans, allowing them to absorb more nutrients, resulting in coffee cherries with rich layers of sweetness and acidity. Moreover, the diverse topography, varied soil types, and numerous microclimates make Sidamo's coffee flavors exceptionally diverse.

The Guji region was originally under the administration of the Sidamo region. Due to its remote location and relatively underdeveloped infrastructure, Guji coffee's rise to fame came relatively late. Initially, its reputation didn't match that of regions like Yirgacheffe and Harar. Later, due to the excellent flavor of its coffee beans, it was independently separated and established as a new growing region. This area features fertile black soil with an average altitude of over 1,800 meters, and its unique geographical characteristics create terroir conditions highly favorable for coffee tree growth.

Administratively, it belongs to the Oromia Region → Guji Zone, representing regional green coffee beans. Similar to how Yirgacheffe became widely known after gaining fame and was subsequently established as an independent sub-region of the broader Sidamo area, Guji Zone also followed this path. This batch is produced by small-scale coffee farmers from the Shilcho Cooperative, located near the town of Dara Woreda in Sidamo Province. This cooperative was established in 1976 and is currently a member of the Sidama Coffee Farmer Cooperative Union (SCFCU) in Sidamo Province. SCFCU is one of Ethiopia's large coffee cooperative alliances, currently comprising approximately 46 member cooperatives, making it Ethiopia's second-largest coffee entity.

Hambella Region

According to Ethiopia's administrative divisions, the country can be divided into four levels: Region, Zone, Woreda, and Kebele, equivalent to China's provinces, cities, districts, and streets, respectively. Queen Rose coffee beans come from Guji City in Sidamo Province, which can be further subdivided to Hambella Kebele in Shakisso Woreda. Generally, when people mention Hambella, they're most often referring to Queen Rose coffee beans, as the Queen Rose coffee from Hambella is exceptionally famous.

Hambella is a sub-region of the Guji growing area, currently with approximately 20 processing stations of various scales. Queen Rose coffee beans come from the Buku processing station in Guji. The Buku processing station is located in the village of Buku Abel at an altitude of 2,200 meters. In addition to favorable natural terroir conditions, local farmers also take meticulous care of each coffee tree. They plant shade trees beside the coffee trees, allowing Queen Rose coffee to receive adequate sunlight without consuming excessive nutrients, preserving more essential nutrients in the coffee cherries.

Queen Rose Coffee

In 2017, Ethiopia's DW company entered a natural-processed batch from the "Buku Abel" processing station, which won the championship in TOH (Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest competition) with its rich strawberry and cream aromas. In the same year, at the World Brewers Cup China competition, Li Jianfei from Beijing CREMA Coffee Training used "Queen Rose" coffee to defeat Geisha in the competition, winning the national runner-up title. From then on, Queen Rose coffee began appearing on everyone's bean lists.

In an interview, Brewers Cup runner-up Li Jianfei revealed that he believed this Ethiopian bean's outstanding performance could compete with Panama's "Geisha" coffee on the same stage, vying in splendor.

After DW company became famous overnight with "Queen Rose," it expanded to four processing stations: "Buku Abel," "Buku Saysay," "Haro Soresa," and "Tirtiro Goye." However, strictly speaking, only the natural-processed coffee from the "Buku Abel" processing station can be called "Queen Rose." The naming convention for Queen Rose follows a sequence starting from 2017, for example, the 2018 batch is called "Queen Rose 2.0," the 2019 batch is "Queen Rose 3.0," the 2021 batch is "Queen Rose 5.0," the 2022 batch is "Queen Rose 6.0," the 2023 batch is "Queen Rose 7.0," so this year's 2024 batch is naturally called "Queen Rose 8.0."

FrontStreet Coffee: Sidamo · Queen Rose 8.0 Coffee Beans
Country: Ethiopia
Region: Sidamo · Guji Zone
Altitude: 2,250-2,350 meters
Variety: Local heirloom varieties
Processing: Natural processing
Flavor: Floral, jackfruit, preserved fruit, apricot, juicy sensation

Arsi Region

Arsi is also a specialty coffee-producing region in Sidamo. West Arsi is located between the famous Yirgacheffe coffee-growing area and Hararge, with altitudes ranging from 1,900 to 2,200 meters. It lies in the western part of the Sidamo region, and the area's name comes from a branch of the Oromo people who have long resided here.

West Arsi is composed of three woredas (Ethiopia's third-level administrative divisions): Arsi, Bale, and East Shewa. Approximately 88.52% of West Arsi's population is Oromo, which is very important in coffee history because they were the first tribe in human history to drink coffee. Half of Ethiopia's coffee production comes from this region.

Coffee cultivation in the West Arsi region follows a small-farm model, with each small farmer's farm averaging 2-3 hectares. Even so, their farms are often slightly larger than the typical 1.5-2 hectares found in most other Ethiopian regions. Although current coffee cultivation techniques are still developing, coffee farming technology in the West Arsi region is developing very rapidly compared to other growing regions. Coffee farmers don't need to hire temporary or full-time workers; instead, they select coffee with family help. This allows them better control over coffee quality, and processing stations typically pay extra fees for fully ripe red cherries, greatly motivating coffee farmers.

Natural Processing

Coffee beans from the Sidamo region are predominantly natural-processed. Both of FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo coffees are natural-processed.

During the annual coffee harvest season (December-January), the Buku processing station only harvests fully red cherries, selecting coffee cherries with sugar content above 30 and placing them on African drying beds for sun-drying. Due to the significant local day-night temperature differences, farmers provide shade during midday to avoid excessive heat and over-fermentation, while using plastic covers at night to prevent sudden rain showers. The cherries are turned continuously throughout the day, ensuring they don't pile too thickly, which allows for uniform drying while preventing sun scorch or unpleasant fermentation flavors. After approximately 18 days of natural processing, the moisture content of the green coffee beans reaches only 13%, at which point they can be bagged and stored.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that different processing methods result in different coffee bean flavors. Wet processing better expresses the original citrus acidity and floral notes of Sidamo coffee beans, while natural processing adds aroma, sweetness, and fermentation characteristics to the original flavor profile. Therefore, most of FrontStreet Coffee's daily drinking beans are wet-processed.

Coffee Varieties

Some people might ask FrontStreet Coffee: Why are Ethiopia's native coffee beans of varying sizes? Ethiopia is the genetic birthplace of coffee, essentially a natural gene bank for Arabica, with numerous varieties. Moreover, local coffee farmers often have limited resources, making classification extremely difficult. Therefore, the government has collectively designated them as "Heirloom" varieties. Consequently, Ethiopian heirloom coffee beans often appear inconsistent in size and shape, but they express unique floral and fruit aromas in flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee's brewing parameters for Sidamo coffee:

For light-roasted Sidamo coffee, FrontStreet Coffee chooses: V60 dripper, water temperature 90°C, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, coffee amount 15g, grind size (80% passing through China No. 20 standard sieve)

Using segmented extraction, bloom with 2 times the coffee weight in water, i.e., 30g of water for 30 seconds. The blooming process is necessary to allow the coffee grounds to release internal carbon dioxide, ensuring more stable extraction in subsequent stages. With a small water flow, pour in a spiral to 125g, then continue pouring to 225g and stop. Remove the dripper once the water has finished dripping through. Timing from the start of pouring, the extraction time is 2'00". Next, take the entire cup and shake it well before pouring into cups for tasting.

[Natural Processed Arsi Coffee Flavor]: Aroma of berries and honey, with jam-like sweetness spreading throughout the mouth upon entry, exceptionally sweet, finishing with nectarine notes and juice-like texture. When cooled, it becomes even more like plum and nectarine-flavored juice.

[Natural Processed Queen Rose 8.0 Coffee Flavor]: Very prominent floral and fruit aromas, with clear notes of berries, passion fruit, strawberry, and oolong tea, exhibiting high fermentation sweetness.

In comparing the flavors of these two beans, Arsi's fruit sweetness and juiciness slightly excel, especially when hot, the jam and honey flavors are irresistible, and the juiciness becomes even more apparent as the temperature drops, very pleasant.

Queen Rose leans toward tropical fruit flavors, with the alternating contrast between sweetness and acidity being quite surprising. Between the two, Queen Rose's fermentation characteristics are more intense. It's like being transported into a fruit world.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Suggestions:

Regarding coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects coffee flavor. Therefore, coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee upon arrival. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it's at peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee kindly reminds: Once coffee beans are ground in advance, they no longer need a resting period, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide buildup in the packaging also helps round out the coffee flavor, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly, as coffee grounds oxidize relatively quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate more quickly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

Ethiopian coffee is like a cup of fruit tea—a refreshing thirst-quencher on hot summer days; if made into SOE (Single Origin Espresso), it becomes even more tangy and refreshing! Of course, not all single-origin coffee beans can be made into SOE, especially wet-processed Yirgacheffe coffee, which would be particularly stimulating as SOE! Queen Rose coffee is excellent for this purpose!

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) on WeChat: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473