Ethiopia Sidamo 2 Washed

The climb from the southern end of the Great Rift Valley, through Shashamene and past Awasa is gradual, and coffee trees slowly increase in frequency, large, lanky, and dusty by the roadside, many so tall they lean on the roofs of houses for support. Coffees here are earlier than in the far south, delicate, and citric.  

Sidama has one of the most robust cooperative unions in the country with 53 member cooperatives, as well as a thriving industry of independent washing stations. While often considered Ethiopia’s second-best terroir after Gedeo Zone (also known as “Yirgacheffe”), qualities in Sidama often meet or surpass those of Gedeo’s most famous districts. Coffees here can be planted at some of the world’s highest elevations, with some of the best soil and processing conditions found anywhere in Ethiopia. 

Fully washed coffees in Sidama (also spelled “Sidamo” by some) are typically fermented slowly—36 to 48 hours--due to the low ambient overnight temperatures in the region and the replenishment of cold groundwater throughout the process. Drying takes typically 12-21 days on raised screen beds, and at almost every processing site wet parchment is rotated nearly continuously by a huge staff of seasonal employees who rake, stir, pile, and toss the drying coffee to ensure an even dehydration in the open air. Drying coffee is covered during the searingly-hot afternoon hours to protect it from cracking, and again overnight to block the settling humidity. The result of almost all Grade 2 washed coffees from Sidama is a clean and snappy brightness with abundant complexity, a honeyed sweetness, and nuanced stone fruit flavors.