What Does Bright Coffee From Sidama Really Mean?

Sidama, also spelled Sidamo, is one of Ethiopia's three official coffee regions, sitting in the southern highlands of the East African Rift Valley. Coffee grown there generally shows bright acidity, a syrupy smooth mouthfeel, and layered notes where spice, floral, and fruit interweave. The bright quality refers to that lively, juicy acidity rather than bitterness.

Growing conditions support that profile: annual rainfall of 1,550 to 2,220 mm, fertile soil, suitable temperatures, and high altitude. The Bensa sub-region drew attention through strong showings in the 2020-2021 Cup of Excellence competitions, and high-altitude lots there are processed in ways that protect the floral and fruit character. The Sidama name itself comes from the local Sidama people.

Sidamo/Sidama is one of Ethiopia's three official coffee-producing regions, located in the highlands of the East African Rift Valley, and is renowned for its bright acidity, syrupy smooth mouthfeel, and interwoven floral, spicy, and fruity notes. This article begins with the historical origins of the region's name, sorts out the naming dispute between Sidamo and Sidama, analyzes the impressive performances of micro-regions such as Bensa in the 2020-2021 COE competitions, and takes a deep dive into the processing methods and flavor characteristics of high-altitude coffee from Bensa. At the same time, Front Street Coffee brings a cupping experience of a high-altitude natural Alo along with three-pour brewing parameters, taking you through the unique charm of Sidama coffee in full.

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Sidama coffee, with its refreshing and bright character, rich floral aromas, and rounded juicy body, has captured the taste buds of many coffee lovers, and Front Street is also a die-hard fan of this region. Today let's talk about the stories behind Sidama coffee.

The Sidamo region, also translated as Sidama, is located in southern Ethiopia, in the highlands of the East African Rift Valley. Annual rainfall here reaches 1,550-2,220 mm, with abundant rain, suitable temperatures, fertile soil, and high altitude—together these conditions have earned Sidamo coffee its world reputation. As one of Ethiopia's three officially recognized regions, Sidamo provides the world with diverse, outstanding, and richly layered coffee. Front Street has compared many excellent Sidamo single-origin coffees in cupping and found that they generally display bright acidity, a syrupy smooth mouthfeel, and complex layers where spice, floral, and fruit notes interweave. In Front Street's product line, there are several Sidamo offerings on sale, such as Front Street Huakui, Front Street Santa Vini, and Front Street ALO Natural, which shows just how popular coffees from this region are.

When looking up information about this origin, you may notice two different spellings: Sidamo and Sidama.

The pronunciation "Sidamo" comes from the local Sidama people. Like other ethnic groups in Ethiopia, the Sidama have their own traditions and culture, and even have a New Year celebration recognized by UNESCO—Fiche Chambalala—when more than 5 million people gather in the capital Hawassa each year to celebrate together. However, from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century, the region was invaded and annexed, and the invaders pronounced Sidama as Sidamo, so this name carries a derogatory meaning for the Sidama people. By the 1990s, the Ethiopian government implemented a federal system, redrawing administrative regions according to the settlement areas and languages of major ethnic groups, and the Sidama took this opportunity to restore their historical original name: Sidama.

However, even before the administrative division adjustment, Sidamo Coffee had already gained worldwide fame for its distinctive aroma, so compared with Sidama, people are more accustomed to using the name Sidamo. In addition, when the Ethiopian government applied for trademark protection for Sidama coffee back then, it also chose the old name Sidamo® as the official registered trademark. To this day, domestic consumers are still more used to calling the coffee from here "Sidamo."

The COE competitions in 2020 and 2021 were both held in Ethiopia. Among the micro-regions from Sidamo that made the list, they were mainly concentrated in four towns: Arbegona, Bensa, Bura, and Bona Zuria. These four towns are very close geographically and are all located in the Sidamo highlands. Among the Sidamo micro-regions that made the 2021 COE list, all five champion farms came from Bensa town.

Ethiopia has an extremely rich variety of coffee plants. By category, one type is traditional regional landraces, and the other is the numbered coffee lines selected and bred by the JARC Jimma Agricultural Research Center. Common regional varieties in Sidamo include Dega, Wolisho, and Kurume. In the 2020 and 2021 COE competitions, the coffee varieties representing Sidama State on the list all came from JARC's numbered coffees. Among them, the 2020 COE champion variety from Bura town in Sidama was 74158, and the 2021 COE champion variety from Bensa town in Sidama was 74165.

Bensa is located in the Sidamo area of southern Ethiopia, at an altitude between 1,800 and 2,300 meters. High altitude gives the coffee more complex flavor expression. In Bensa, you can taste typical and intense fruit character, and sometimes even catch a strawberry-like aroma.

Bensa coffee beans can be processed in flexible and diverse ways, including washed, natural, and red honey. Among them, washed Bensa has a bright aroma and pleasant acidity. Every harvest season, farmers send ripe coffee cherries to the processing station, where they are sorted and graded, pulped, fermented, then washed clean with fresh water and placed on drying beds to dry. It should be noted that during the first few days of drying, they must be turned once every 2 to 3 hours. Depending on the weather, the beans need a drying period of 12 to 15 days until the moisture content drops to 11.5%.

Bensa sounds similar to a Guangdong herbal tea called Banxia liangcha, but it is absolutely not herbal tea! Bensa coffee beans have a unique and delicate mouthfeel, mild yet rich, accompanied by fruity aromas, smooth on entry with a long finish. By this point, many of you must already be longing for coffee from this micro-region. So that everyone can taste the refined flavors of Bensa, Front Street has recently launched a Front Street Ethiopia Natural Alo coffee from a high-altitude growing region, processed naturally.

Before formal natural processing, farmers first hand-pick fully ripe coffee cherries and transport them to the Hatessa processing station for the first round of sorting. Then, before washing, the cherries are classified again. By observing the color of the skin, overripe or insufficiently ripe cherries are removed to ensure consistent ripeness before natural drying begins.

For natural coffee, the farmers responsible for post-processing must turn the fruit on the drying beds very diligently during the first three days, because at this time the coffee cherries have a very high moisture content. If they are not turned in time, they are not only prone to mold, but also may develop unpleasant sourness or rotten-fruit flavors due to uneven heating. Throughout the process, the coffee cherries are always spread in only a thin layer, in order to give them better ventilation and drying conditions. After 14 to 18 days, once the moisture content has dropped to the target level, they can be bagged and sent to the warehouse.

Through cupping, Front Street first perceived the sweet floral and fruity aroma of this Front Street Ethiopia Natural Alo. The dry fragrance clearly features magnolia, pineapple, yellow peach, and small Taiwan mango, along with a sweet fermented aroma, very pleasant.

When Front Street slurps, the entry is full of tropical fruit sweetness and acidity, with ripe pineapple, passion fruit, and perfume lemon particularly prominent, accompanied by a slight black tea note. The gentle fermented sensation plus elegant floral notes make you want to take another sip. As the temperature drops slightly, the coffee begins to shift toward stone-fruit characteristics such as yellow peach and dried apricot. The fruit acidity is clear and bright while still layered, very special.

Brewing suggestions for Front Street Ethiopia Alo Natural Coffee:

Dripper: V60 Water temperature: 92-93°C Dose: 15g Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15 Grind size: fine granulated sugar (78% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve)

Pouring method: three-pour

Three-pour brewing: First, wet the coffee bed with twice the weight of the coffee grounds in water to form a dome and let it bloom for 30 seconds. Then, using a slow stream, pour in circles from the inside out until the scale reads 125 g, then pause. When the coffee bed has dropped to half the height of the dripper, continue pouring the third stage with the same slow stream until 225 g. Once all the coffee liquid has finished filtering, remove the dripper. Total time is about 2 minutes.

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