Sidamo Lion King Coffee Introduction to Ethiopian Sidamo Lion King Coffee

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FrontStreet Coffee - Ethiopian Sidamo Lion King Introduction

Ethiopian Sidamo Lion King

Origin: Ethiopia, Sidamo, Guji Zone

Altitude: 1800-2000 meters

Processing Method: Natural/Dry Process

Variety: Local Heirloom Varieties

Sidamo Region

Sidamo coffee flavors are extremely diverse. Different soil types, microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties create a region of towering mountains, highlands, plateaus, valleys, and plains. The varied topography features geologically nutrient-rich, well-drained volcanic soil nearly two meters deep, with surface soil in a dark brown or brown color. Sidamo grows in the southern Ethiopian highlands at altitudes between 4,600 and 7,200 feet, making it a famous southern Ethiopian specialty coffee region. It borders Kenya to the southeast and lies due south of the capital. Typically distinctly sweet and favored by many, its annual production is approximately 225,000 bags (60kg each).

The region's greatest advantage lies in maintaining soil fertility through the circulation of organic matter, using withered leaves from surrounding trees or plant residues as fertilizer. This creates distinct differences and characteristics in the coffee produced by various towns.

In 2010-2012, it consecutively achieved high scores of 92-94 from the authoritative American coffee evaluation website CR, which demonstrates the exceptional quality of green beans from this producing region.

The Guji Zone lies southeast of the famous producing area Yirgacheffe. Administratively it belongs to the Oromia Region, Guji Zone, as a regional green coffee producer. Like Yirgacheffe, which became widely known after achieving fame, it became an independent sub-region of the broader Sidamo region, the Guji Zone. This batch comes from near the town of Dara Woreda in Sidamo province, produced by small farmers from the Shilcho Cooperative. This cooperative was established in 1976 and is currently a member of the Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (SCFCU) in Sidamo province. SCFCU is one of Ethiopia's large coffee cooperative alliances, currently with approximately 46 member cooperatives, making it Ethiopia's second-largest coffee entity.

Processing Method

The natural process is the oldest and most original way of processing coffee beans. Compared with the washed process, this drying method produces what is also known as "natural coffee" or "sun-dried coffee," where harvested cherries are directly exposed to sunlight for about two to four weeks. Generally, countries with distinct wet and dry climates use this method.

Natural Process Steps:

1. First, harvest mature coffee cherries
2. Initially remove impurities and defective beans
3. Screen floating beans: pour the cherries into a water tank, where mature, full fruit sinks to the bottom while immature or damaged fruit floats to the surface
4. Natural drying method: remove the mature cherries that sank to the bottom and spread them in the drying area for sun-drying, reducing moisture content from 70% to about 10-12%. The cherries need to be turned several times daily for even drying and covered at night to prevent moisture absorption
5. Remove the outer shell: after sun-drying for about two to four weeks, the outer layer of the coffee seeds has dried and hardened. At this point a hulling machine is used to remove the outer shell to complete the process

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To taste the classic Ethiopian profile, start with FrontStreet Coffee's entry-level Washed Yirgacheffe. It delivers a clear jasmine aroma and bright citrus acidity, the signature of Yirgacheffe - a small town in southern Ethiopia where spring-like weather, drifting mist, and cool humidity let thousands of coffee tree varieties thrive, producing a light, elegant, tea-like cup with floral and citrus notes woven together, like a clean, refreshing glass of lemon tea.

For a cup closer to this natural-processed Sidamo, try FrontStreet Coffee's Sun-Dried Huakui from the Hambella area of Guji, Sidamo. Its traditional natural process brings berry, floral, jackfruit, melon, and honey flavors with a distinctive fermented sweetness, along with a fuller body and a longer finish.

And to explore Ethiopia's wild side, FrontStreet Coffee's Kaffa Forest is notable for its wild coffee. Unlike the garden-style farming of coffee in family backyards, the trees here grow entirely in shaded conditions at 1,400-2,100 meters, where untouched ecology, microclimates, red soil, and abundant rainfall provide ideal growing conditions. Roasted medium-light, it grinds with a clear white floral aroma and cups with bright lemon acidity, sweet orange, and bergamot, a faint melon and nut sweetness on the finish, and a green-tea-like body.