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ETHIOPIA: SIDAMA
Tastes Like: HONEYSUCKLE, GRAHAM CRACKER + PINK LEMONADE
MEDIUM ROAST
12OZ / 340G + 5LB BAGS
TRY THIS COFFEE AS A COLD BREW BY FOLLOWING THE RECIPE VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.
Region: Sidama
Farm: Shanta Golba
Varietal: Heirloom Varietals
Altitude: 1950 - 2500 m.a.s.l
Processing: Washed
ABOUT SIDAMA
The Sidama region is known for producing the most coffee at the highest grades in Ethiopia, and the geography explains why this is. This region spreads across fertile highlands, where half of the land is cultivated. The surrounding rivers and lakes along with the very high elevation results in cool weather and fertile soil. These factors, in combination with over 100 inches of rainfall per year, cause the coffee to ripen slower than in any other region in Ethiopia. There are over 50 cooperatives and 200 washing stations throughout Sidama.
ABOUT SHANTA GOLBA
Shanta Golba is a washing station in the Bensa region of Sidama Ethiopia, closeby to Daye Bensa Village. Coffee here is harvested November through January. Over 1200 small-holder farmers deliver coffee to this washing station. In addition to coffee, most farmers also grow Enset, Banana, Organges, and have various other indigenous natural shade trees covering the property.
Shanta Golba uses strict ripe cherry specifications and typically only uses the middle to end of harvest for the highest grades as these are typically the highest elevation coffees. Coffee usually dries for roughly 18 days here due to the use of natural shade trees over the raised beds.
Coffees in Ethiopia are typically grown on very small plots of land by farmers who also grow other crops. The majority of smallholders will deliver their coffee in cherry to a nearby washing station or central processing unit, where their coffee will be sorted, weighed, and paid for or given a receipt. Coffee is then processed, usually washed or natural, by the washing station and dried on raised beds.
The washing stations serve as many as several hundred to sometimes a thousand or more producers, who deliver cherry throughout the harvest season: The blending of these cherries into day lots makes it virtually impossible under normal circumstances to know precisely whose coffee winds up in which bags on what day, making traceability to the producer difficult. We do, however, make every available effort to source coffee from the same washing stations every year, through our export partners and their connections with mills and washing stations.
Typically farmers in this region don't have access to and therefore do not utilize fertilizers or pesticides in the production of coffee.
ABOUT ETHIOPIAN COFFEE
Unlike most coffee-growing countries, the coffee plant originated here, not introduced through settlement. Instead, growing, processing, and drinking coffee is part of everyday life and has been for centuries.
There is 99% more genetic material in Ethiopia’s coffee alone than in the entire rest of the world; the result is a coffee lover’s dream. No coffees are spoken of with the reverence or romance that Ethiopian coffees are.
Coffee is still commonly enjoyed as part of a ceremonial preparation, a gathering of family and friends. The senior-most woman of the household will roast the coffee in a pan and grind it fresh before brewing. The process takes about an hour from start to finish and is considered a regular show of hospitality.
Honour this tradition and invite your friends and family to enjoy a cup of Ethiopian coffee today.
ABOUT WASHED PROCESS
The process of producing Washed coffees in Ethiopia will vary slightly from washing station to washing station, but generally speaking the coffee is picked ripe and depulped the same day. There is usually a fermentation period of 8–12 hours in open-air tanks, then washed in water channels to remove the mucilage. The coffee seeds will be spread on raised beds to dry for 5–15 days, depending on the weather.
Here is a video by our importer about the process:
In this video, Joey takes a modern approach to this age-old tradition by cold brewing SJCB's newest single-origin Ethiopian coffee and sharing it with her co-workers.
After some trial and error, Joey came up with this fantastic recipe:
- 100g of coffee, 700ml of filtered water (1:7 ratio)
- Grind size: Setting 20 on Malkonig x54 (finer than usual cold brew recipes)
- Brew for 18 hours
- Share with friends!
Let us know if you try this recipe or have another idea of how to enjoy this roast; we'd love your thoughts.
