Ethiopian Sidamo Coffee Regions: Flavor Differences Between Guji and Arsi Coffee Beans

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In previous articles, FrontStreet Coffee mentioned that the Yirgacheffe coffee region is subsidiary to the Sidamo region, but it has become independent due to its outstanding flavor characteristics. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee continues to explore Ethiopia's coffee region—Sidamo. When recommending Ethiopian coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee asks customers, "Would you prefer an Ethiopian with brighter acidity or one with more juiciness?" When customers often struggle with which Ethiopian beans to choose, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas help them quickly select their preferred flavor by highlighting the citrus-like bright acidity of Yirgacheffe and the rich fruit aroma and juicy characteristics of the Sidamo region.

Sidamo

Sidamo is located in southern Ethiopia, extending east to the Arsi and Bale administrative regions and west to the Gamogofa administrative region. Sidamo coffee is cultivated at altitudes between 1400m-2000m. The primary industry here is agriculture, with main coffee growing areas located around the Great Rift Valley. Sidamo has developed rapidly in recent years and has become an important coffee export hub. Sidamo's coffee flavors are incredibly diverse, with different soil types, microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties creating obvious differences and characteristics in the coffee produced by each town.

Among the most famous coffee growing areas in the Sidamo region are Guji and West Arsi. Most coffee in the Sidamo region is processed using the natural method. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the natural processing method gives Sidamo region coffee beans rich fruity aromas and smooth mouthfeel.

Guji

The Guji region, formerly belonging to the Sidamo region, was established as an independent new region by the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) in 2010. The Guji region is located southeast of Yirgacheffe and is an area with complex topographical changes including towering mountains, valleys, and plains. The region's geology consists of fertile black soil (Vertisol) with a depth of nearly two meters and an average altitude of over 1800 meters. The significant temperature differences between day and night, created by geographical characteristics, provide the local area with all the terroir conditions needed to produce high-quality specialty coffee. When discussing what made the Guji region famous, FrontStreet Coffee must mention the "Huang Kui" (Flower Champion) coffee bean.

This "Huang Kui" bean comes from Hambella, located in Ethiopia's largest coffee region, Guji, administratively belonging to the Oromia state. Hambella's west faces Yirgacheffe's Kochere across mountains, with the two regions separated by highlands reaching 3200 meters in altitude and about 30 kilometers in width. It borders Shakiso, Uraga, and Kercha sub-regions of Guji to the southeast, north, and south respectively, making it the highest altitude coffee sub-region in Ethiopia.

Currently, there are about 20 processing stations of various sizes in the Hambella region. In 2017, a natural processed bean from DW company's "Buku Abel" processing station won the Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest Competition championship. Chinese green bean importers named this bean "Huang Kui" (Flower Champion). At that time, this bean had strong strawberry and cream aromas. Subsequently, DW company added processing stations in the core Dimtu area of Hambella: Buku Abel, Buku Saysay, Haro Soresa, and Tirtiro Goye, with an annual coffee production of about 1100 tons. Among all these estates and processing stations, strictly speaking, only natural processed coffee beans from the "Buku Abel" processing station can be called "Huang Kui coffee beans."

FrontStreet Coffee, through cupping Huang Kui, Huang Kui 2.0, and Huang Kui 3.0, found that although the flavors of Huang Kui 2.0 and 3.0 were very close to the original 2017 Huang Kui, their body and aftertaste were not as good as the original 2017 Huang Kui. Surprisingly, FrontStreet Coffee sometimes still identified green beans identical to the original Huang Kui batch from these two batches. As for Huang Kui 3.1, FrontStreet Coffee found its flavor differed greatly from Huang Kui, even feeling that Huang Kui 3.1's flavor was somewhat close to Geisha's flavor. We also confirmed this change with the green bean supplier. In 2020, as the fourth year of the Huang Kui coffee bean, its production area had expanded to several times its original size, and with more scientific cultivation management, Huang Kui 4.0's flavor became even better, receiving praise from many coffee enthusiasts. FrontStreet Coffee also acquired and put a Huang Kui 4.0 coffee bean on its shelves.

West Arsi

West Arsi is located between the famous Yirgacheffe coffee growing region and Hararge, at altitudes of 1900-2200m, situated in the western part of the Sidamo region. The region's name comes from a branch of the Oromo people who have long lived here.

West Arsi consists of three woredas (Ethiopian 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. Half of Ethiopia's coffee production comes from this region.

Coffee cultivation in the West Arsi region follows a smallholder model, where the average smallholder farm is not large, about 2-3 hectares, but even so, their area is often slightly larger than the typical 1.5-2 hectares in most Ethiopian regions. Although current coffee cultivation techniques are still developing, 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 but instead select coffee with family help. This allows them to better control coffee quality, and processing stations usually pay extra fees for fully ripe red cherries, greatly increasing farmers' motivation.

Natural Processing Method

During the coffee harvest season, coffee farmers in the Sidamo region only pick mature red fruits, placing them one by one in baskets. The picked coffee fruits are uniform in size, similar in maturity, and free from other impurities. During processing, defective coffee beans and unripe or overripe coffee fruits are first manually sorted. Then the red coffee fruits are spread evenly on raised wooden frames or entire drying racks for sun drying, which avoids the risk of beans picking up miscellaneous flavors from being placed on the ground.

During the drying process, the beans are constantly turned to ensure even exposure and uniform water loss; every three to five days, farmers manually sort and remove defective and moldy beans. After the fruit skin dries and becomes hard, a hulling machine is used to remove the dry, hard fruit skin. After obtaining the green coffee beans, farmers perform one final screening to pursue perfect flavor.

Next, FrontStreet Coffee uses Huang Kui 4.0 from the Guji region and Arsi coffee beans from West Arsi for a series of comparisons including green beans, roasting, cupping, and brewing to see the differences between coffee beans from the two regions.

FrontStreet Coffee Green Bean Comparison

Both coffee beans use natural processing, with green bean colors showing green with yellow. Huang Kui 4.0 variety will have some small particles, appearing uneven in size, while Arsi beans will be more uniform in size.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Recommendations

For these two new crop beans, we will: extend the dehydration time to ensure even heating of the bean surface and core. To express the acidity and floral-fruity aromas of these beans, we use a light roast level.

Huang Kui 4.0: Yangjia 800N, 480g bean input: Preheat to 175°C, damper open to 3, heat at 120. Raise to 140°C, damper open to 4. Roast to 6'00'', temperature 151.7°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration complete. When ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface and toast smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, this can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack, starting at 9'50'', damper fully open, reduce heat to 80 at 188°C, first crack development time 1'40'', drop at 196°C.

Arsi: Yangjia 800N, 480g bean input: Preheat to 160°C, damper open to 3, heat at 120. Adjust heat once at 115°C, damper open to 4. Roast to 6'00'', temperature 154.9°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration complete. At 8 minutes, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface and toast smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, this can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack, starting at 9'08'', damper fully open, first crack development time 1'20'', drop at 193.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Report

Huang Kui 4.0
Dry Aroma: Citrus, berries
Wet Aroma: Black currant, rose
Taste: Almond, strawberry, black currant, fermented notes, persistent sweetness

Arsi
Dry Aroma: Berries
Wet Aroma: Fruit jam
Taste: Plum, berries, cranberry jam, nectarine, mango, honey

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Filter: V60 #01
Water Temperature: 90-91°C
Dose: 15g
Ratio: 1:15
Grind: BG6m / Fine sugar size (20# sieve screen to 80%)

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Method: First pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour 95g (electronic scale shows about 125g), finishing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (electronic scale shows about 225g), finishing in about 1'40-1'45" seconds. Complete extraction between 2'00''-2'10'', remove the filter cup.

Huang Kui 4.0 Brewing Flavor: At high temperature, almond aroma; as it cools, berry sweetness and sourness, black currant juiciness, honey aftertaste, persistent sweetness.

Arsi Brewing Flavor: At high temperature, berry juice-like mouthfeel; as it cools, plum, nectarine, mango, honey aftertaste.

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