WBC World Coffee Championship Winning Bean Varieties: Introduction to Colombian Sidra Coffee and Its Flavor Characteristics

If you're a coffee lover, have you noticed the trending "niche" variety called "Sidra" when stocking up on beans recently? In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss this "niche" Sidra variety and explore its fascinating story.

Sidra's "Spotlight Moments"

Sidra's rise to fame can be largely attributed to the two-time World Barista Champions who "endorsed" it.

The 2019 World Barista Championship (WBC) winner, Korean competitor Jooyeon Jeon, chose Sidra coffee from Colombia's La Palma y El Tucan estate as her signature bean. On the same stage, third-place winner Cole Torode also selected a Sidra batch from this estate.

Jooyeon Jeon

Last year's fresh World Barista Championship winner, Anthony Douglas from Australia, also claimed the crown with Sidra variety coffee beans, selecting an anaerobic fermentation batch from Colombia's Finca El Diviso. With Anthony's victory, both Finca El Diviso and the Sidra variety have continued to gain popularity in the specialty coffee community.

Anthony Douglas

Sidra's Obscure Origins

Sidra, transliterated from Sidra, is also called Sydra or Bourbon Sidra by coffee farmers, meaning "apple juice" or "cider" in Spanish. Currently, the Sidra variety is widely considered a hybrid offspring of Typica and Red Bourbon, often described in cupping as having both Bourbon's sweetness and Typica's clean clarity.

According to reports, Sidra is an experimental variety from an early coffee breeding center established by Nestlé in the Pichincha province of northern Ecuador. The institution's main mission was to create hybrids from Ethiopian native varieties with local Typica or Bourbon. Later operations were interrupted, leaving behind many mixed breeds that scattered in the fields.

While gathering information, FrontStreet Coffee reviewed the book "Fourth Wave Specialty Coffee Studies" by Mr. Han Huaizong, which mentioned that the World Coffee Research (WCR) conducted genetic identification of the Sidra variety, with results showing it's closer to Ethiopian local native varieties. In 2021, Dr. Shao Changping also conducted genotype identification of two types of Sidra on the market. He found that the pointed Sidra does not contain Typica genes and is closer to Geisha or Ethiopian native varieties mixed with other genes; while the round Sidra should be a hybrid of Typica and Geisha.

Characteristics of the Sidra Variety

Although genetic testing has shown that Sidra has genetic connections with Ethiopian coffee varieties, it is currently mainly cultivated in Colombia and Ecuador. Looking back at the first Ecuador Cup of Excellence (COE) competition in 2021, Sidra varieties achieved excellent rankings of 2nd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 16th, 20th, and 21st places. As the second major cultivation area, Colombian Sidra is often used as competition beans by contestants. Besides, some coffee-producing regions have small-scale plantings of Sidra varieties for experimental purposes.

Sidra coffee plants are typically distributed at altitudes of 1650-1800 meters, with sturdy trunks that can reach up to 4 meters in height. They require appropriate shade when cultivated, are immune to multiple pests, but are susceptible to leaf rust and coffee berry disease. The leaves are slender and long, with five-petaled flowers during blooming. The fruit distribution is dense, resulting in high yields, with fruits larger and rounder than most Arabica varieties; the green beans are elongated strips, somewhat similar to Geisha.

In green bean competitions, high-quality pointed Sidra varieties, such as washed batches, are often described as having base notes of brown sugar, citrus, honey, and berries, with delicate floral expressions. This corresponds perfectly with the impression of Ethiopian local native varieties. Mr. Han Huaizong also mentioned in his book, "No wonder the sweetness and floral notes are extremely similar to Sidamo (Yirgacheffe) or Geisha."

How Does Anaerobic Natural Sidra Taste?

When FrontStreet Coffee cupped the anaerobic natural Sidra from Finca El Diviso, we experienced a complex fruit aroma of passion fruit, citrus, grapes, and honey. As the temperature decreased, it tasted like bright orange juice acidity, mixed with some cinnamon spice notes, leaving a sweet cocoa aftertaste in the mouth after swallowing.

FrontStreet Coffee has tried cold brew, iced pour-over, and hot pour-over extraction methods, finding that this Sidra coffee from Finca El Diviso at FrontStreet Coffee consistently expresses rich, sweet fruit flavors with plant-based aromatics, a rounded mouthfeel, and weak bitterness.

FrontStreet Coffee's Pour-Over Recommendations

Considering that this Sidra bean at FrontStreet Coffee has floral and fruity characteristics, FrontStreet Coffee's roaster chose a medium-light roast to highlight its floral notes and fruity sweetness. Lighter roasted coffee beans require higher water temperatures to fully extract the aromatic substances, but for Sidra with its cocoa-like charm, too high water temperature tends to increase bitterness, so FrontStreet Coffee uses 90-91°C water for brewing.

Filter: V60
Water Temperature: 90-91°C
Grind Size: Fine sugar granularity (80% pass-through rate with #20 standard sieve)
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Coffee Amount: 15 grams

Pour the coffee grounds into the V60 filter, wet the coffee bed with twice the amount of water to form a dome and bloom for 30 seconds. Then use a small water stream to pour in circles from inside to outside to 125g for the first segment. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the filter's height, then continue with the same fine water stream to inject the third segment to 225g. Remove the filter once all coffee liquid has filtered through, with a total time of approximately 2 minutes.

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