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. Naturals from Sidama are earlier than in the far south, delicate, fruity, and fragrant. 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. Natural processed coffees in Sidama (also spelled “Sidamo” by some) typically begin with freshly picked coffee cherry that is hand sorted for uniformity, washed clean and floated for consistent density. After intake and sorting, cherry is typically moved directly to dry on raised screen beds, where it will stay for 2-3 weeks on average. At almost every processing site, drying cherry is kept to a very shallow depth on the tables, often only a single cherry deep, and 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 naturals from Sidama is a round and full tactile with perfume-like dried fruit flavors and an earthy or herbaceous complexity.
