Ethiopia | Exploring Sidamo Coffee Regions: Guji and Hamauch Coffee

African Coffee and Ethiopian Origins

African coffee commands remarkable recognition in the global market, and Ethiopia — widely acknowledged as the birthplace of coffee — stands as Africa's largest producer of arabica, with a coffee heritage to match.

Ethiopia sits in northeastern Africa, a landlocked country of 1.1036 million square kilometers. Mountainous plateau dominates the terrain: the Ethiopian Plateau covers two-thirds of the nation, the Great Rift Valley runs clear through it, and the average elevation approaches 3,000 meters — high enough to hold the average annual temperature to 16°C. Add vast territory, plentiful water, high-altitude mountains, and more than 50 volcanoes, and you have close to ideal coffee country.

Ethiopian Coffee Regions

Ethiopia counts many coffee regions: Sidamo, Harrar, Kaffa, Limmu, Lekempti, Tepi, Bebeka, and Bale. As specialty coffee has grown, so has the demand for traceability, and Ethiopian beans are now increasingly identified by sub-region or washing station. Within Sidamo, sub-regions like Arbegona and Bensa have stepped into the spotlight in recent years.

The Sidamo Region

Sidamo was originally known as Sidama. In 2004, seeking to promote the distinctive character of its coffees abroad, the Ethiopian government applied for trademark protection on three regional names and chose the old designation "Sidamo®" as the registered name for Sidama coffee. To this day, consumers at home still call coffee from this region "Sidamo."

Sidamo spreads across the fertile highlands south of Lake Awasa in the Great Rift Valley, at elevations of 1,400-2,200 meters with 1,200-2,000 millimeters of annual rainfall. High altitude, generous rain, a pleasant climate, and fertile soils make it superb coffee territory. Sidamo also contains many famous sub-regions, and because their beans grow in different soils and microclimates, the region's coffees span a wide range of flavor profiles.

Arbegona - Rumudamo

Arbegona is a small town in the north-central part of Sidamo, next door to the Bensa sub-region. In recent years its best-known coffee operation has been the RumuDamo Coffee Industry Trade PLC, based in the town.

The company was founded in 2015 by seven shareholders, owns 1,000 hectares of coffee land, and collaborates with more than 300 growers. It has focused on upgrading processing technology and equipment — in 2018 it bought a wet mill to process washed coffee.

Rumudamo shot to prominence in 2020, when Ethiopia hosted its first Cup of Excellence (COE) competition: the company entered and took second, third, and eighth place, and its reputation was made. Today it primarily grows the 74110 variety released by the Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC), along with Ethiopian landrace varieties.

Bensa - Hamasho

Bensa is another town in north-central Sidamo. Recently, coffee from Alo village and Hamasho coffee have both surged in popularity, with roasters at home and abroad queuing up for these lots.

Hamasho is a washing station in Bensa. "Hamasho" means "snake" in the Sidamo language — a symbol of power and spirits — and it is one of 16 washing stations run by the celebrated local trader Daye Bensa Company, co-founded in 1996 by Assefa and Mulugeta Dukamo. Today the company works with 71 washing stations, 2,500 farmers, 4 coffee-growing rural communities, and 11 drying stations.

Daye Bensa is headquartered in the capital, Addis Ababa, operating 16 washing stations and 4 processing plants, of which Hamasho is one. The station has built real fame of its own: it entered the Cup of Excellence in both 2021 and 2022, taking eighth place in 2021 and second in 2022. The company also owns 2 coffee farms and partners with smallholder farmers on cultivation research, equipment maintenance, training, and technical support.

FrontStreet Coffee's Selection and Tasting Notes

FrontStreet Coffee has bought both the Rumudamo and Hamasho beans and cupped them. The Rumudamo carries a lime-like aroma on the nose, and in the cup reveals citrus acidity, apple juice flavors, fructose-like sweetness, and a light tea-like finish.

The Hamasho, meanwhile, offers subtle floral and citrus aromas, and on tasting delivers berries, grape juice, black plums, and plums.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and home to countless heirloom varieties — a treasure trove for anyone who loves expressive, fruit-forward cups. For an easy first taste of the region, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is the classic entry point: clear jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity over a light, elegant, tea-like body — like a clean, refreshing lemon tea.

If the competition lots above whetted your appetite, try FrontStreet Coffee's natural-process Huakui (Flower Queen) from the Hambella region of Guji, Sidamo: dried 21 days on raised beds with defect beans picked out by hand every three to five days, it shows a light fermented wine note, florals, citrus, and mango, with thick honeyed sweetness, a cocoa undertone, and a long, lasting finish.

And for a Sidamo lot straight from an award-winning station, FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Natural Hamasho 74158 — built on the JARC 74-series varieties — is intensely fragrant: perfume-lemon, strawberry, and star fruit on the nose, with sweet strawberry, carambola, and green grape flavors in the sip and soft florals rising behind them.