What is the Sidra Coffee Variety? Where Does the Sidra Coffee Variety Come From?

In recent years, the Sidra coffee variety has gained significant attention and popularity, frequently appearing in major world-class coffee competitions and on the menus of many coffee shops. As a result, many people are curious about the origins of the Sidra variety.

What is Sidra?

The name Sidra is a phonetic translation meaning "cider" or "apple juice" in Spanish. The Sidra plant has a distinctly thick and sturdy trunk, growing quite tall with a maximum height of up to 4 meters. It features dark green leaves with wavy edges, slender five-petaled coffee flowers, and pointed cherry fruits that are larger than other Arabica varieties. The coffee beans are also longer than those of typical Arabica varieties.

Sidra fruits grow densely and yield relatively high production. While it has little resistance to leaf rust, it shows some resistance to certain pests and coffee diseases. It is suitable for cultivation at altitudes between 1,600-1,800 meters in shaded environments.

Rise to Prominence

Sidra first emerged in 2019 when Jooyeon Jeon, a barista from South Korea, used a Sidra from Colombia's Tucumán Farm to win the World Barista Championship (WBC). At the time, it was introduced as "Bourbon Sidra," a hybrid of Red Bourbon and Typica. Subsequently, in the 2022 and 2023 coffee competitions, champions also selected Sidra varieties from Colombia.

Initially, many people believed Sidra was a hybrid variety from Colombia. However, this is not the case. According to some reports, Sidra actually originated from Pichincha Province in Ecuador. There was once a Nestlé coffee breeding center in this region, established to develop hybrids of Ethiopian heirloom varieties with Bourbon or other varieties. When this breeding center closed, these breeding seeds were dispersed locally.

Later, local coffee farmers discovered and began cultivating them, finding both the Typica Mejorado and Sidra varieties. These two varieties became the main coffee varieties grown in Ecuador. They frequently appeared in the first Cup of Excellence (COE) held in Ecuador in 2021. Later, through exchanges between coffee farmers, Sidra was introduced to Colombia for cultivation, and today Colombia has become where Sidra gained prominence.

Genetic Analysis and Current Cultivation

Later, testing by World Coffee Research (WCR) revealed that Sidra's genetics are very close to Ethiopian local landraces. This further confirmed that Sidra came from Nestlé's coffee breeding center and also explained why Sidra has certain floral and fruity characteristics.

Currently, due to Sidra's poor resistance to coffee leaf rust and its environmental requirements such as needing shade cultivation at altitudes above 1,600 meters, it has not been widely cultivated. It is primarily grown in Colombia and Ecuador.

FrontStreet Coffee's Sidra Selection

FrontStreet Coffee naturally wouldn't miss out on this popular Sidra coffee. We have selected Sidra from the renowned Finca El Diviso in Colombia's Huila region. When brewed, it offers bright and full-bodied grape and passion fruit flavors with acidity, accompanied by honey-like sweetness and a rounded mouthfeel.

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