Ethiopian Distinct Coffee Sidamma The region of Sidama is in southern Ethiopia. It encompasses many individual origins, including, geographically, the area of Yirgacheffe. However, Yirgacheffe is classified as its own separate origin. In this section, we discuss Sidama as a designated coffee origin. The name Sidama is often spelled "Sidamo," and the two names are generally used interchangeably. Some of the confusion comes from earlier political designations that called Sidama the large federal region which stretches from the town of Shashemene in the north all the way to the Kenyan border; and which called Sidama a much smaller sub-region which contains the towns of Hawassa (Awassa), Yirga Alem, and Dila. All the coffee origins designated as Sidama are within the larger territory of Sidama, but not all are within the smaller state of Sidama. To avoid confusion, it's best to just consider all the central-southern Ethiopian coffees as Sidama, and then use the spe