Ethiopia Sidama Shakiso Natural Decaf
This lot was hand selected for Decaf processing from the harvest of smallholders in Shakiso village to showcase the heirloom profile of the Sidama region without all the caffeine. It's silky smooth and gently sweet with notes of berry, plum, brown sugar and and undertone of baker's chocolate.
Even in the world of specialty grade coffee, it’s rare to find good decaf. There, I said it. When producers, exporters and importers are motivated to make the most of each season, there’s very little incentive to spend the time and money to decaffeinate good coffee for the (relatively) small decaf market. It’s even more rare to find an importer who will commit such an in-demand coffee as natural process Ethiopian coffee to decaf, but our trading partner Keffa Coffee has come through for decaf lovers.
This lot was hand selected from the harvest of many local smallholder farmers to showcase the local Sidama heirloom profile in classic natural processing. After fully drying and sorting, it traveled to Descamex, one of only two water decaf processing facilities in the world. We’ve had great results from Descamex’s Mountain Water Processing method – it’s how we decaffeinated our award-winning Honduras Honey Decaf! But this cup speaks for itself: it’s silky, sweet and fruity with notes of berries, plum, brown sugar and an undertone of baker’s chocolate. Perfect for a coffee you can sip on all afternoon without worrying about keeping you up at night.
Reminder! This coffee is raw, you must roast it before brewing
Arrival Date: November 27th, 2024. Harvest Season: 2024
Acidity & Brightness: Mild acidity with gentle sweetness
Balance & Finish: Moderately balanced with a quick finish
Body & Texture: Full body and silky texture
Flavors: Berries, plum, brown sugar and baker’s chocolate
Grade: Grade 4, grown at 2050 masl
Processing: Natural (dry) processed & dried in raised beds, Mountain water process decaffeinated
Grower: Smallholders around Shakiso village in Sidama
Region: Sidama, Oromia
Varietals: Indigenous heirloom varieties
Recommended Roast Range: City to Full City (Light to medium)
Most folks will like this coffee best at a City+ (Light-medium) or as first crack has begun to trail off. Lighter roasts (less than a minute into first crack) will bring out a touch of florality as well as increase the vibrant acidity bringing out citrus notes as well as focusing on berry at the expense of rounded sweet notes like brown sugar. Medium roasts will highlight rounded sweetness in the brown sugar at the expense of some of the brighter fruit notes. We don’t recommend going into second crack with this coffee.
