Elegant Floral Notes of Ethiopian Coffee Beans - Sweet Honey Nectar from Ethiopia Shakiso

FrontStreet Coffee - Shakisso Coffee Introduction

Region: Sidamo, Shakisso, Gigecha Washing Station

Variety: Local Indigenous Mix

Altitude: 1900~2100 meters

Process: Raised Bed Natural

Flavor: Tropical fruits, lemon, berries, fermented wine aroma

Sidamo is one of Ethiopia's most important coffee-growing provinces, and the town of Yirgacheffe sits within it. Yirgacheffe's flavor profile turned out to be so distinctive that it was eventually split off from Sidamo as a name of its own—proof of just how exceptional the wider region is.

Guji is a district inside Sidamo province, and the town of Shakisso belongs to Guji. The Gigecha Washing Station is located in Dambi Uddo village, Shakisso town. The station has been operating for nearly 4 years, and its owner is also active in coffee trading, which has made the operation unusually open to advanced processing techniques.

Shakisso lies in Guji, in the southern part of the Oromia region, bordering Sidamo and Gedeo. The area is dotted with old mining pits dug during its gold-mining past, so walking through the coffee groves requires some care—the ground is full of holes. Shakisso remains a remote corner even by Sidamo standards, far from most of the province's coffee zones, and gold is still one of its best-known products. Tension between miners, land claims, and ethnic groups left the region unstable as recently as 2006, and finding enough hands to tend the groves and pick the harvest is still the area's biggest challenge today. Local smallholders began growing organic coffee in 2001 and work closely with medium-sized producers, who value their skill at cultivating forest coffee at high altitude.

Coffee from Shakisso stands out so consistently that it regularly draws market attention. Ninety Plus's legendary lot "Nekisse" originally meant "nectar from Shakisso"—both the coffee and the name trace back to this one small town.

Knowledge Point: Shakisso (sometimes spelled Shakiso) is the most noteworthy micro-region within the Sidamo coffee-producing area.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Shakisso's fruit-forward, floral character appeals to you, start with FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe, a classic everyday Ethiopian coffee grown at 1800 meters or higher. It shows white jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a delicate tea-like finish, all at an approachable price—a natural first bean for exploring Ethiopian terroir.

Brew it as a pour-over: use a V60 dripper, 15 grams of coffee, a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, water at 90-91°C, and a medium-fine grind (about the texture of fine granulated sugar, roughly 80% passing through a #20 sieve). Pour 30 grams of water to bloom for 30 seconds, then pour up to about 125 grams in about 1 minute, and finish with the remaining water to about 225 grams by 1 minute 35 seconds; total extraction should end between 2'00" and 2'10".