What are the characteristics of Sidamo coffee beans? Introduction to Sidamo coffee and its flavor profile

Ethiopia has two best-known producing regions: Yirgacheffe and Sidamo. Sidamo lies in a highland area of southern Ethiopia and is known for balanced acidity and an appropriate body. In that part of Ethiopia, people often start the day with a cup of mocha coffee at breakfast to restore their energy for the hours ahead.

Because of the country's older grading system, Ethiopian coffee can be divided into special grades, which usually refers to washed Yirgacheffe and Sidamo, followed by grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

In Ethiopia's sun-dried beans you will usually find some impurities, such as small stones or twigs and other foreign matter, so special care is needed when grinding.

These small shortcomings do not affect the taste. Most notable is that Sidamo's mocha coffee has extremely low caffeine, making it a naturally low-caffeine coffee. Try a sun-dried coffee and feel the wild, free desert style.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Recommendations

Take FrontStreet Coffee's "Huang Kui" and "Zhu Mang" as examples.

Both "Huang Kui" and "Zhu Mang" belong to Ethiopian Heirloom native varieties. The raw beans vary in size, but there are still some differences between the two.

"Zhu Mang" has more pointed ends and good moisture content, around 11%. It is not the very hard SHB type of bean, though. Because the beans are dense and hard, FrontStreet Coffee extends the dehydration time in the early stage of the roast.

"Huang Kui 2.0" is relatively more uniform, with a rounder shape and very small beans, mostly between 14-15 mesh, smaller than Longberry, and green with a yellow cast.

Cupping Results

Huang Kui: The wet aroma has obvious, strong green tea and floral notes. On slurping, there are aromas of green tea, strawberry, jasmine, lime, and cane sugar. The mouthfeel is light and clean, with a soft, fresh acidity. The aftertaste is a little short, though, leaving only some sweetness in the mouth, and it drinks very lightly - more like a cup of fruit tea than coffee.

Zhu Mang: The wet aroma has yellow lemon, floral, and black tea aromas, with obvious citrus notes. On slurping, there are aromas of black tea, yellow lemon, caramel, and jasmine. At this roast level the flavor begins to turn rich and solid. The acidity on entry is more elegant, sweetness is perceived more quickly and also runs higher, and notes of fermented wine aroma, cream, tropical fruit, jackfruit, and nectarine make the cup more balanced.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Sidamo and its neighbor Yirgacheffe share the same bright, floral character, so if this profile appeals to you, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe selection is a natural next step. The most classic starting point is FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe, a staple known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like body, and its accessible price has made it the first specialty coffee for many drinkers. Yirgacheffe is a town in Ethiopia's Sidama region at roughly 1700-2100 meters, where the coffee trees are planted above 1800 meters, making it one of the highest coffee-growing areas in the world; the name became shorthand for a recognizable white-floral and lemon-citrus profile, and in 2010 the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange formally separated Yirgacheffe from the Sidamo region.

Within the town there are many smaller areas and villages, and FrontStreet's Gediyo cooperative comes from one of them, the Woka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe. Originally part of the Woka cooperative under the Yirgacheffe union, it was identified by coffee hunters around the world as a single origin of its own. It follows the most traditional washed processing and is often called the last clean corner of Yirgacheffe; the cup is free of the usual bitter edge, bringing fresh, bright citrus and lemon acidity with jasmine fragrance.

For a sweeter, fruitier expression, FrontStreet Red Cherry is a fully ripe natural lot - only sound, fully mature cherries are used. The cherries are sorted once more on arrival at the processing station, then spread directly on raised beds to dry, turned every 2-3 hours during the first few days to prevent uneven heat and over-fermentation, and dried for three to five weeks before the staff remove the outer fruit by machine depending on the weather and temperature and move the coffee to storage. Because the cherry dries with its fruit intact, the cup keeps the typical Yirgacheffe character while adding the tropical fruit aroma of the natural process: citrus acidity, a berry-juice body, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy smoothness.

For brewing, FrontStreet suggests a V60 at 90-91°C, 15g of coffee, a 1:15 ratio, and a grind of EK43s setting 10, or fine-sugar size, at roughly 80% pass-through on a #20 sieve. FrontStreet's pour-over method runs in three stages: bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, pour to 125g, then when the water level drops to about two-thirds of the bed pour the remaining water to 225g, finishing the pour at around 1:35 and completing the drip between 2:00 and 2:10, after which the dripper is removed.