What is Sidamo Guji Region? Guji Coffee Beans Offer an Irresistible Charm

FrontStreet Coffee - Guji and Sidamo Origin Introduction

The Guji growing region in southern Ethiopia borders the Sidamo and Gedeo zones, featuring diverse topography with towering mountains, highlands, plateaus, valleys, and plains. The region's geology consists of nutrient-rich, well-drained volcanic soil with depths reaching nearly two meters, with surface soil displaying dark brown or brown coloring. The area's greatest advantage lies in maintaining soil fertility through natural organic matter cycling, utilizing fallen leaves and decaying material from surrounding forests, along with residual plant roots as natural fertilizers.

Ethiopian coffee primarily comes from eight major growing regions: Ekempti, Limu, Illubabor, Djimma, Harrar, Teppi/Bebeka, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe.

Ethiopian coffee enjoys high esteem in Taiwan, with particular interest and love for the three most famous origins: Harrar, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe. The Sidamo growing region is located in southern Ethiopia.

Agriculture dominates the local economy, with coffee cultivation areas situated around the Great Rift Valley. Hawassa serves as the largest town in Sidamo province and functions as an important coffee export hub. Sidamo's coffee flavors are incredibly diverse due to varying soil compositions, regional microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties, creating distinct differences and characteristics in coffee produced by each town area.

Shakisso, located in Guji, Oromia region in the south, borders Sidamo and Gedeo. This area contains numerous mining pits originally used for gold extraction, resulting in many holes throughout the coffee growing zones, making walking between coffee cultivation areas hazardous.

Shakisso stands as a unique growing region within Guji/Sidamo, remaining a remote area far from most coffee-producing areas even within Sidamo. Gold mining represents another famous local product. Factors including miners, land, and ethnic tensions contributed to regional instability in 2006. Consequently, this area now faces its greatest challenge: the need for manpower to maintain cultivation areas and harvest coffee. Local small-scale farmers began growing organic coffee in 2001, working closely with medium-sized coffee producers who understand how to cultivate forest coffee in highland regions.

Coffee farmers only begin natural processing when coffee cherries reach sugar levels above 30. During the first two days of natural processing, maintaining cherry moisture ensures adequate fermentation time. Nighttime temperatures drop to around 12 degrees Celsius, preventing over-fermentation of the cherries.

After 18 days of natural processing, the fruit skin and pulp are completely dehydrated, allowing easy extraction of the green coffee beans inside. The beans are then packaged and stored in warehouses at 12-22 degrees Celsius with 45-55% humidity for approximately 50 days of bean resting and further dehydration. When moisture content reaches around 11%, hulling and sorting are performed before formal market sales. Rich characteristics of passion fruit, peach, and berries create a wonderful flavor profile that proves unforgettable after tasting.

Knowledge Point

Arabica coffee varieties are generally believed to originate from the Ethiopian highlands and are widely distributed in tropical regions. Through repeated mutations and breeding, they have given rise to numerous varieties.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mission

In summary: FrontStreet Coffee is a dedicated coffee research hall, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation simply to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Additionally, we hold three discounted coffee events monthly, because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible prices—this has been our mission for six years!

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