In recent years, the coffee variety Sidra has often been discussed and has become increasingly popular, frequently appearing inmajor world-class coffee competitions, as well as on the menus of many coffee shops. As a result, many people are curious about the origins of this Sidra variety.

Sidra

The name Sidra is a transliteration of Sidra, which in Spanish means "apple juice, apple cider." The Sidra plant has a distinctly thick, sturdy trunk and is very tall, reaching up to 4 m high. It has dark green leaves with wavy edges, slender five-petaled coffee flowers, cherry fruit with a pointed tip, and a size larger than other Arabica varieties; its coffee beans are also longer than those of typical Arabica varieties.

Sidra trees produce relatively dense fruit clusters and yields are fairly high. Although it has little resistance to leaf rust, it does have some resistance to several pests and coffee diseases. It is suited to being grown at altitudes between 1600-1800 m, in shaded environments.

Sidra first began to make a name for itself only in 2019, when in a closely watched World Barista Championship (WBC), contestant Jooyeon Jeon from South Korea used a Sidra produced at Colombia's Granja Paraiso estate to take the title, and at the time it was described as "Bourbon Sidra," a cross between "Red Bourbon and Typica." As it happened, in the 2022 and 2023 coffee competitions, the champions all chose Sidra from Colombia, which also successfully sent its fame soaring.

As a result, many people first encounter Sidra and assume it is a "Colombian hybrid." In fact, that is not the case. According to some reports, the origin of Sidra should be Pichincha Province, Ecuador, in Central America.There used to be a Nestle coffee breeding center here, established to develop hybrids between Ethiopian native varieties and Bourbon or other varieties. Because this breeding center has closed, the seeds from these breeding efforts were released locally,and only later were they discovered by local coffee farmers and then cultivated.

At the time, smallholders successively discovered the Typica Mejorado and Sidra varieties. Today, they also appear frequently in some international green bean competitions. For example, in the first Cup of Excellence (COE) held in Ecuador in 2021, these two coffee varieties appeared frequently. Later, through exchanges among coffee farmers, Sidra came to be planted in Colombia, and as it has developed to this day, Colombia has become the place where Sidra rose to prominence.

Later, WCR (World Coffee Research) testing of Sidra found that its genetics are very close to Ethiopian landraces. This further confirmed that Sidra came from Nestle's coffee breeding center, and also explained why Sidra has some floral and fruity characteristics.

At present, because the Sidra variety has poor resistance to coffee leaf rust and requires growing conditions of altitudes above 1600 m and shaded environments, it is not very widely distributed, and today it is still relatively concentrated in Colombia and Ecuador.

FrontStreet Coffee would naturally not miss this popular Sidra coffee, selecting Finca El DivisoFinca El Diviso  in the Huila region of Colombia, which after brewing has bright and full grape and passion fruit flavors and acidity, with honey-like sweetness and a round mouthfeel.

To learn more about coffee origins, please scan the QR code to follow: Coffee Review

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