What defines the 90+ Drima Zede natural Sidamo coffee?

90+ Drima Zede is a natural-process coffee from Ethiopia's Sidamo region, produced by Ninety Plus Coffee. The name means "approach" in the local dialect. Grown at 1,750 to 2,000 meters from Ethiopian heirloom varieties, it cups with floral notes, nectarine, tropical fruit, blackberry, blueberry, plum, cream and cinnamon, plus medium-high acidity and a clean mouthfeel uncommon in natural beans.

On a coffee farm in Sidamo, southern Ethiopia at roughly 4,600 to 7,200 feet, volcanic soil, distinct microclimates and many heirloom varieties yield about 225,000 bags of 60 kg each year. The 90+ label refers to Ninety Plus Coffee, founded in 2006 in the United States, not simply to cupping scores above 90, and its Profile Processing system shapes the cup and coffee aroma.

90+ Drima Zede is a top-tier natural-process coffee crafted by Ninety Plus Coffee in Ethiopia's Sidamo region, with a name that means "best approach" in the local dialect. It blends complex flavors of floral notes, nectarine, tropical fruit, and creamy cinnamon, with medium-high acidity and a clean mouthfeel, showcasing a transparency rarely found in natural beans. This article will provide an in-depth analysis of its regional terroir, the 90+ brand's Profile Processing system, green bean management, light roast curve, and brewing parameters for pour-over and siphon, giving you a comprehensive understanding of the unique charm of this Front Street Ethiopian natural Sidamo.

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ETHIOPIA, SIDAMO, Drima Zede

Front Street Ethiopia Natural Sidamo

90+ Drima Zede

Country: Ethiopia

Region: 90+SNNP, Sidama

Altitude: 1750-2000 meters

Processing Method: Natural Process

Variety: Ethiopian Heirloom

Light Roast

Flavor: Floral notes, nectarine, tropical fruit, blackberry, blueberry, plum, cream, cinnamon

Acidity: Medium-high

01 | Region Introduction

Sidamo is located in southern Ethiopia, in a highland area at 4,600 to 7,200 feet above sea level, adjacent to Kenya, southeast of Jima and directly south of the capital, and is a well-known specialty coffee producing region. Coffee produced here typically has pronounced sweetness, making it widely favored, with an annual output of approximately 225,000 bags (60 kg each).

Sidamo's coffee flavors are rich and diverse, thanks to the local complex soil types, microclimates, and numerous heirloom varieties. The region's terrain includes high mountains, highlands, plateaus, valleys, and plains, with fertile, well-draining volcanic soil nearly two meters deep and topsoil that is dark brown or brown. The area's greatest advantage lies in maintaining soil fertility through organic matter cycling, as fallen leaves and plant residues from surrounding trees naturally convert into fertilizer.

90+ · What Exactly Are 90+ Coffee Beans?

Ninety Plus Coffee is a specialty coffee supplier from the United States, founded in 2006.

"90+" does not mean all coffees with cupping scores above 90. Good coffee is not available every year, sometimes appearing at different estates, and each has different flavor characteristics. "90+" actually represents a top-tier coffee series comprising 13 flavors. These coffees come only from the American specialty coffee creator Ninety Plus Coffee. All are made from old Ethiopian Heirloom varieties, cultivated to maturity in ecological environments, then processed to artistic standards for flavor optimization.

Processing is where 90+ excels. They separate these coffees by variety, microclimate, and harvest timing, taste each one individually, and design specialized processing methods for each flavor to achieve a specific flavor profile, like a major designer, meticulously studying and spending great effort to complete a work close to art. Natural products undergo extensive refinement and improvement, ultimately presented in their most beautiful form.

90+ Ninety Plus Coffee Founder Joseph Brodsky

Starting in 2006, Ninety Plus founder Joseph Brodsky decided to dedicate himself to changing the deeply entrenched commercial coffee cultivation model. Ninety Plus saw an opportunity to cultivate shade-loving and delicious heirloom Ethiopian varieties on tropical land while creating a new model to inspire and improve the quality of life for its coffee-growing professionals.

The Ninety Plus team currently owns and/or operates over 1,500 hectares of coffee forest restoration projects in Panama and Ethiopia, and has built an international brand, driving the success of an ecologically and socially oriented, taste-driven agricultural economy.

90+ Profile Processing

As coffee gradually moves toward the high-priced specialty market, 90+ took the lead in establishing its own green bean production system—Profile Processing. To ensure quality, 90+ collaborates with local estates, fully controlling everything from cultivation, sampling, and harvesting to subsequent processing and cupping. 90+'s exclusive Profile Processing ensures that every coffee bean produced has a unique and stable flavor direction and quality, and 90+ coffees employ a marketing approach akin to fine wine, standing out uniquely in the market.

At the beginning, 90+ also limited itself to first selecting the most outstanding coffee cherries from various Ethiopian coffee farmers, starting with processing methods to give the finest treatment to already excellent beans. Thus the first 90+ representative beans to make their name—Aricha and Beloya—were born, but the results of such experiments were already astonishing, with incredibly rich fruit flavors and high quality that shocked the entire specialty coffee world.

Profile Processing, simply put, extends the scope of management upstream, controlling everything from the varieties farmers grow, origin, climate, cultivation methods, harvesting, and processing methods, so that they can produce exceptionally high-quality coffee beans according to their own preferences. The power of the Profile Processing system lies in holding the technology to control flavor expression, thus allowing them to plan and set the highest standards and surpass the luck-based green bean selection and purchasing methods of ordinary green bean merchants. Exceeding quality standards is by no means luck, but the average level, and this is the core value that 90+ has always upheld.

New season products may cancel the original L grading system (originally L7\L12\L39\L139), and products and product lines will be divided by more prominent taste differences. Product lines are divided into four major series: NinetyPlus Ethiopia, NinetyPlus Panama, Ninety Levelup, NinetyPlus Limited

90+ beans take a completely different naming approach from conventional specialty beans, with no region or estate names; each 90+ bean is named according to flavor. For example, Drima Zede means "best approach" in the local dialect. Starting from a flavor concept, then naming, then moving to the selection of regions and partner farms, this shows that 90+ is a brand with a boutique management style.

02 | Processing Method

Raised-Bed Natural Sun-Drying Method

Drima Zede means "Best Approach" in the local dialect. According to information provided by the producer, this Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee is a specially developed product series based on 90+'s years of experience. The ancient natural processing method makes it difficult to achieve a clean flavor, but with 90+'s technical support, Drima Zede only hand-selects the ripest coffee cherries, and the sun-drying process involves painstaking constant raking to ensure uniformity. The final result is a very transparent and clean mouthfeel, with dramatic changes between hot and cold, and alluring aromas of fruit, flowers, and oak barrel.

Also an Ethiopian natural bean, Front Street 90+ Drima Zede, after strict supervision and selection, avoids the annoying earthy off-flavors and persistently high defect rates common in natural beans, instead highlighting the alluring sweetness that natural processing is praised for.

Front Street Drima Zede's enchanting fruit character inherits the alluring aroma bestowed by traditional Ethiopian natural processing, unreservedly expressing round, full, long-lasting sweetness and just the right amount of mouth-watering fruit acidity. Front Street 90+ Drima Zede is also quite easy to brew in daily preparation; the beans themselves are rich in flavor, and whether using a fresh drip method or a rich siphon brew, they can beautifully showcase their essence.

The traditional Ethiopian natural method involves spreading wild-picked coffee cherries directly on dirt for sun-drying. This drying method has two drawbacks:

1. After picking, the beans are not specially sorted or processed, and uneven appearance and ripeness are mixed together. The process is relatively rough, so coffee bean quality is unstable and prone to defective beans.

2. Coffee farmers usually just find an empty plot near their homes for processing, so the ground often has many impurities or dirt, and the coffee easily picks up off-flavors.

The improved natural method addresses the two drawbacks of the traditional approach:

1. When picking beans, only fully ripe dark red coffee cherries are harvested. Before sun-drying, the beans undergo defect screening at the processing station to make bean size and ripeness appear more uniform.

2. Next, raised wooden frames or entire drying racks are used for sun-drying, which avoids the risk of beans picking up off-flavors from the ground. During the drying process, the beans must be carefully tended so they dry and lose moisture evenly; every three to five days, workers manually sort out defective and moldy beans. Therefore, by the time drying is complete and the beans enter de-pulping, a spread of brilliantly deep-red coffee cherries is already at a grade with very few defects.

03 | Green Bean Analysis

At the 90+ farm, pickers carefully select only red cherries. This is the color of ripe coffee. As coffee matures, sugars develop into the best flavors.

It is crucial for workers to understand the physical changes the cherries undergo. He told me that if they squeeze the cherry and count how many drops escape, they can see how much mucilage there is. One study found this can explain 20% of the variation in cupping scores; a higher level of mucilage means better-tasting coffee. More than three drops is a good sign.

After picking is complete, Carlos and his team measure the weight and density of the cherries in a one-liter container. Results are split by variety for comparison, and yield records are kept in the log.

Coffee cherries are hand-sorted before and after being placed on raised beds. Workers must remove any unripe cherries and look for any coffee berry borer (broca) holes.

The raised beds allow the cherries to remain on a clean surface with air circulation and help them dry evenly. The key is to keep the cherries in a thin layer and move them regularly to ensure even drying.

Drying Period:

For the first three days, the cherries are exposed to sunlight and cold nights. After the third day, they are shaded between 12 and 2 p.m., the hottest time of day. When the coffee is shaded, it is important to leave space on the beds.

After 20-25 days, the coffee reaches the ideal moisture content—10.5% for natural coffee, rather than the more common 11-12%. He explained that the high level of sugars still reacting inside the cherry means a greater risk of over-fermentation.

Check his coffee with a moisture meter. He also recommends measuring humidity at the coldest time of day for greater accuracy.

Cherry Storage:

When storing, coffee cherries are placed in GrainPro bags to protect them from insects. They are then stored in a warehouse, avoiding direct sunlight. Raised wooden patios keep the bags off the floor. Humidity (60-65%) and temperature (19-25°C) inside the warehouse must be carefully controlled.

It takes an average of three months for coffee to be ready for export. During this time it continues to stabilize, any herbal flavors disappear, and acidity and sweetness continue to develop.

90+ coffee is known for processing. But great coffee does not happen without significant investment. And specialty-grade natural is no exception.

Front Street Sidamo green beans are slightly grayish, coarse in some places and fine in others, with both soft and intense acidity, moderate body, and sweet, spicy aromas—one of the courtyard coffees of the southern Ethiopian highlands. Unlike ordinary African coffees, Front Street Sidamo coffee has clear fruit acidity, a smooth mouthfeel, and delicate herbal and floral aromas.

04 | Roast Analysis

Beans with such brilliant flavors are of course not suitable for medium-dark roasting, so this Front Street 90+ Drima Zede coffee is planned to use a light, slow roast method to best express its round and sweet character and rich floral and fruity aromas.

Roaster Yangjia 600g semi-direct fire

Using a fast-roast mode, charge when the drum temperature reaches 200°C, set airflow to 3, after 30 seconds adjust the flame to 160°C, keep airflow unchanged, adjust the flame once at 150°C when the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and dehydration is complete, then adjust the flame to 120°C and airflow to 4;

At the 8th minute, the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and dark patches, and the toast smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8'49" first crack begins, reduce the flame to 70°C, open airflow fully to 5 (adjusting the flame must be done very carefully, not so low that there is no crackling sound), 1'48" after first crack , discharge at 195°C.

After optimization, Front Street 90+ Sidamo Drima Zede has further enhanced sweetness, with a slight citrus note and vanilla aroma, and more pronounced flavors of nectarine, mango, and other tropical fruits

05 | Brewing Analysis

[Pour-Over Front Street 90+ Drima Zede Reference]

Using a Key filter dripper, 16g coffee to 32g water for a 30-second bloom, extract at 89-90°C, 1:15 ratio, medium-fine grind on a Fuji Royal 3.5, second pour to 110ml and stop, wait for the water to drop then slowly pour again at an even speed, the water level should not be too high, pour again to 233ml and stop, extraction time 2:15—rich natural sweetness; everyone can fine-tune according to their own taste.

[Siphon Front Street 90+ Drima Zede Reference]

25g coffee with 310g water

Fuji Royal ghost teeth 4, medium grind, fine granulated sugar

Water temperature 90-91, turn to low heat, then add coffee and stir 3-5 times to fully wet, at 45 seconds stir gently for 5 seconds,

Turn off the heat, then swirl and stir once more—fresh citrus notes, rich mouthfeel, prominent sweetness in the finish, and an excellent aftertaste

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.