Sidamo v. Harar - No Holds Barred Cage Match, I

When it comes to coffee, for me, Ethiopia is where it is at. The incredible variety, origin character, and history make these coffees truly special. I have in my possession a lot of Ethiopian beans, so I thought it would be fun to compare two especially lauded ones.

Both these coffees are dry processed, and hail from Harrar and Sidamo, two of the most famous areas of Ethiopian coffee production. Dry processed coffees leave some of the fruity mucilage layer of the coffee cherry in contact with the seed for some time during processing, leading to fruity flavors in the cup. Both these coffees are for the adventurous, since they can push the envelope of what many people interpret as "traditional coffee flavor"

In today's corner is Ethiopia Sidamo Dry Processed Biloya. This coffee has the distinction of being one of the highest rated coffees at Ken David's coffeereview.com. What weight do I place behind this recommendation? None whatsoever. Still, it is a data point. If you search around the web, you will find lots of accolades about this coffee.

I first roasted this coffee back in August of 2007. My tasting notes were effusive to say the least:

"Very impressive, complex and changeable coffee. Dry grounds are overwhelmingly estery, spicy, fruity, chocolaty. Aroma in cup is intense cinnamon. First third of cup is dry spice, fleeting leather. 2nd third is cinnamon-laced apricot; last third is a deep wininess that reminds me of a Kenya coffee. Very very nice"

Wow, I must have had a lot of free time back then to write this stuff.

Anyway, I roasted a new batch on Friday with the following profile:



And the cup today? Yeah, it's good. I am not sure I have the enthusiasm I previously had for it, though. I can imagine a few reasons why. First, the coffee is a bit older now. Second, I have tried a lot more coffees since I first tried this stuff, and I am less easily impressed, and third, the roast profile was a tad different this time.

Don't get me wrong - this is a tasty cup. "Cinnamon-drenched apricot" is a good description. In a way, this coffee reminds me more of a Yemen than a Ethiopian coffee. The Harrar I'll talk about tomorrow is quite a bit different beast. As for which is better, you'll have to wait and see.