Sidamo Region Introduction | What Unique Flavors Does Sidamo Coffee Have?

Washed Yirgacheffe is a representative coffee from Ethiopia, whose fresh fruit and floral aromas leave an endless aftertaste that makes one marvel: how can there be such coffee—this is truly coffee, not a cup of fruit tea? Then what about the coffee from Ethiopia's other famous specialty coffee region, Sidamo?

Like Yirgacheffe, Sidamo is one of Ethiopia's specialty coffee-producing regions. Yirgacheffe is mainly focused on washed processing, while Sidamo has both washed and natural processing, but is predominantly natural. FrontStreet Coffee's two coffee beans from the Sidamo region are both natural processed. FrontStreet Coffee believes that natural-processed coffee beans have richer flavors than washed ones, with stronger sweetness and fermented notes—somewhat like a juice-like quality. Overall, whether washed or natural, each has its own characteristics and is everyone's favorite!

Sidamo's Unique Aroma and Taste

Sidamo green coffee beans are slightly grayish, with some parts coarse and others fine. They possess both gentle and bright acidity, appropriate body thickness, sweet and spicy fragrance, and are one of the garden coffees from Ethiopia's southern highlands. Unlike most African coffees, Sidamo has clear fruit acidity, a smooth mouthfeel, and delicate floral and herbal aromas.

Natural processed Sidamo tastes close to floral but has a slight earthy note. Washed coffee carries nutty and fruity aromas with subtle cocoa notes. However, both share a smooth mouthfeel and viscosity, comfortable and pleasant acidity and aroma. Light to medium roasts are suitable for single-origin brewing, while medium to dark roasts work well for blends and as a good Espresso base.

Washed processed Sidamo appears light green, with beans that are not large, oval in shape, full-bodied, and of good average quality. The aroma is fragrant and mellow—one sip leaves an endless aftertaste with wild beauty. It is elegant yet playful, with a gentle and pleasant entry that contrasts sharply with the bright lemon acidity that follows. The mouthfeel is unique and mellow, with a distinctive and pleasing sweet aftertaste, while the slowly rising finish contains unique sweetness.

Ethiopian Coffee

In Ethiopia, coffee production is both the primary occupation for most people and an important source of income, while this crop has integrated into the nation's culture and economy. Ethiopia is the world's sixth-largest coffee producer. According to reports, in 2018, 100 million people worldwide were directly or indirectly involved in the coffee industry, with Ethiopian coffee workers accounting for 20% of this figure. In 2017, the country produced approximately 470,000 tons of green coffee beans, of which about 160,000 tons were exported—meaning that less than half of Ethiopia's coffee production is exported, with the rest consumed domestically.

Ethiopia's coffee cultivation is mainly concentrated in the western and southern regions, with over half following smallholder farming patterns, also known as garden coffee, which is Ethiopia's primary production method. It is understood that nearly 1.2 million local families rely on coffee cultivation for their livelihood, with each household's planting area being no less than 4 hectares. Garden coffee refers to farmers mixing coffee trees with other economic crops in their own backyards, usually planted alongside banana trees, forming unique green landscapes in front of and behind every household.

Due to the small production volume of smallholder-grown coffee, there are various large and small farmer cooperatives or processing plants locally, mainly responsible for processing green coffee beans in the region. During each harvest season, farmers pack the fruits from their own coffee trees and send them to nearby processing plants (cooperatives) established near water sources for unified processing, which is then sold under the processing plant's name. For example, the Guodingding Cooperative coffee beans on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list are collected from coffee fruits grown within Yirgacheffe town, sent by farmers to the town for unified washed processing, and finally produced and sold worldwide under the cooperative's name.

Sidamo

Sidamo is one of Ethiopia's most productive coffee-growing regions, producing large quantities of high-quality green coffee beans annually. This region was formed after Ethiopia gained independence from Italian rule in 1942, with its name derived from the indigenous Sidamo people. Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee has found that Sidamo coffee is famous for its rich, mellow mouthfeel, complex sweetness and aroma, refreshing and gentle acidity, accompanied by a long aftertaste. For example, Santa Vini and Flower Queen from FrontStreet Coffee's bean list are both from the famous Sidamo region.

Sidamo's coffee flavors are very diverse. Different soil types, microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties, towering mountains, highlands, plateaus, valleys, and plains within the region create varied topography. The local geology consists of nutrient-rich, well-drained volcanic soil with a depth of nearly two meters, and surface soil appears dark brown or brown. Therefore, to allow everyone to taste the coffee flavors from different regions of Ethiopia—the birthplace of coffee—FrontStreet Coffee has acquired more than a dozen coffee beans from different Ethiopian regions, including both natural and washed processed, to satisfy everyone's coffee preferences.

Sidamo's greatest advantage lies in maintaining soil fertility through organic matter cycling, using withered leaves from surrounding trees or plant residues as fertilizer. This creates obvious differences and characteristics in coffee produced by different towns. In 2010-2012, it continuously achieved high scores of 92-94 on the authoritative American coffee evaluation website CR. This demonstrates the extraordinary quality of green beans from this region.

Guji Region

In FrontStreet Coffee's view, the most famous coffee from Sidamo must be the Flower Queen. This bean comes from Hambella, located in Ethiopia's largest coffee-producing region, Guji. Administratively, it belongs to the Oromia Regional State, was formerly part of the Sidamo region, but was established as a new independent region by the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) in 2010. Hambella's west faces Yirgacheffe's Kochere across mountains, with a highland of 3,200 meters altitude and about 30 kilometers wide separating the two regions. The geographical characteristics create significant day-night temperature differences, giving the local area all the terroir conditions to produce high-quality specialty coffee. To the southeast, east, and north, it borders Guji's Shakiso, Uraga, and Kercha sub-regions, making it Ethiopia's highest-altitude coffee sub-region.

Currently, there are about 20 processing plants of various scales in the Hambella region. In 2017, Ethiopia's DW green coffee company sent their coffee beans to the TOH (Taste of Harvest) green coffee competition hosted by the African Fine Coffee Association. A natural batch from the "Buku Abel" processing plant won the TOH Ethiopia championship with its rich strawberry and cream aroma. That year, this batch of green beans was imported to China by Beijing green coffee trader Hongshun. In the same year, Li Jianfei used this bean to win the runner-up position in the 2017 World Brewers Cup China region. This Ethiopian bean stood out particularly among many Geisha competition entries, thus earning the name "Flower Queen." (Geisha means geisha in Japanese, while Flower Queen means the leader among geishas, indicating the outstanding quality of this bean.)

Subsequently, DW company added processing plants in Hambella's core Dimtu region: "Buku Abel," "Buku Saysay," "Haro Soresa," and "Tirtiro Goye," with an annual coffee production of about 1,100 tons. In terms of growing regions and processing plants, only the processing area from the "Buku Abel" processing plant covers the original small-producing area where the natural processed coffee bean "Flower Queen" was produced. In other words: only natural processed coffee beans produced and processed by Buku Abel can be called "Flower Queen." Coffee is an agricultural product and is also related to the annual climate environment, so the flavor of coffee beans varies slightly each year. To distinguish Flower Queen coffee beans from different years, DW company calls them Flower Queen 2.0, Flower Queen 3.0, Flower Queen 3.1, Flower Queen 4.0, Flower Queen 5.0, Flower Queen 6.0, and this year's Flower Queen 8.0 from 2024 has also been launched to meet everyone.

Arsi Region

Arsi is also a coffee-producing region within the Sidamo coffee region. West Arsi is located between the famous Yirgacheffe coffee-growing area and Hararge, situated in the western part of the Sidamo region. The area's name comes from a branch of the Oromo people who have long lived here. West Arsi consists of three woredas (Ethiopia's third-level administrative divisions): Arsi, Bale, and East Shewa. About 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, and half of Ethiopia's coffee production comes from this region.

Coffee cultivation in the West Arsi region follows the smallholder model, where the average smallholder farm is not large, approximately 2-3 hectares, but even so, their areas are often slightly larger than the usual 1.5-2 hectares in most Ethiopian regions. Although current coffee cultivation techniques are still in the development stage, coffee cultivation technology in the West Arsi region is developing very rapidly compared to other regions. Coffee farmers don't need to hire temporary or full-time workers; instead, they select coffee with the help of family members. This allows them to better control the coffee quality, and processing stations usually pay extra fees for fully ripe red cherries, greatly increasing the motivation of coffee farmers.

Flower Queen Coffee Bean Varieties

The Flower Queen's variety, like most Ethiopian coffee bean varieties, belongs to Ethiopia's local native varieties, also known as Heirloom native varieties. In Ethiopia, the garden cultivation system is the survival mode for the vast majority of small coffee farmers. Heirloom native varieties come from the "unknown varieties" in their backyards. Coffee trees may have been left by previous owners of the land, or shared among neighbors, or possibly grown from seeds from another origin. Various coffee plants are intercropped with other economic crops on the land and are picked and sold only when mature.

Therefore, Heirloom does not refer to a specific coffee variety but represents a blend of green beans from the producing area—coffee that combines the harvests of multiple small farmers during the same period, mixed together. A single batch may cover dozens or even hundreds of undifferentiated varieties. It is precisely because of the differences between varieties, and each mixing method is different, that these coffees vary in particle size, dimensions, and shape—some large, some small, some long, some round—which can be understood as "blended batches."

Coffee Bean Processing Methods

Sidamo coffee beans are processed using both washed and natural methods. The washed processing method involves selecting high-quality fruits, removing pulp and skin, then entering fermentation tanks for soaking and fermentation, followed by drying to about 12% moisture content. The natural processing method is relatively much simpler, using sunlight to directly dry the fruits to about 12% moisture content before removing pulp and skin.

Different processing methods also lead to different flavor presentations in coffee beans. Washed processing better reflects Sidamo coffee beans' original citrus acidity and floral/herbal aromas, while natural processing adds aroma based on the original flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Brewing Parameters:

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

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

Using segmented extraction, bloom with twice the coffee amount in water—that is, 30 grams of water for 30 seconds. The blooming process is needed to allow the coffee grounds to release internal carbon dioxide gas, thereby making the subsequent extraction more stable. With small water flow, pour in circles to 125 grams for segmentation, continue pouring to 225 grams then stop. After the water in the dripper has finished dripping, remove the dripper. Start timing from the beginning of pouring—the extraction time is 2'00". Next, pick up the entire cup of coffee and shake it evenly, then pour it into a cup for tasting.

[Natural Arsi Coffee Flavor]: Smells of berries and honey, with jam-like sweetness spreading throughout the mouth upon entry—full of sweetness, with nectarine flavors in the finish, and a juice-like mouthfeel. After cooling, it's even more like plum and nectarine-flavored juice.

[Natural Flower Queen 5.0 Coffee Flavor]: Very distinct floral and fruit aromas—citrus, passion fruit, strawberry, oolong tea, with high sweetness.

In the flavor comparison between these two beans, Arsi's fruity sweetness and juice-like quality slightly prevail, especially when hot—the jam and honey flavors are irresistible, and the juice-like quality becomes more apparent as the temperature drops, very comfortable.

Flower Queen 8.0 leans toward tropical fruit flavors, with the alternating contrast between sweetness and acidity being pleasantly surprising. Between the two, Flower Queen has a stronger fermented quality.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

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