Where Are These Coffee Beans Grown and How Do They Cup?
This lot comes from Ethiopia's Hambela Estate in the Guji region, grown at 2,150 meters by local smallholders. A 500-gram green bean roast reached 12.2 percent weight loss, and cupping 24 hours later showed plumeria sweetness, citrus, kiwi, strawberry, and blueberry, with sweetness close to peach and honey.
The profile reflects a shift in Ethiopian processing: natural lots are being fermented less to raise cleanliness and coffee brightness, while washed lots ferment longer to build sweetness. That change may tie to the ECX grading revision in 2015, which gave cupping scores a 60 percent weight. Bean sorting, roasting curves, and brewing parameters are documented for readers following the Guji region.
The natural process lots from Ethiopia's Hambela Estate have always been known for their intense fermented character, but this Lot 105 presents a completely different style. Front Street Ethiopia Hambela Estate Saint Lion Single Farm Slow-Dry Lot 105, grown in the Guji region at an altitude of 2,150 meters, carefully cultivated by local smallholders. This review uses 500 grams of green beans for roasting tests, ultimately achieving a 12.2% weight loss. After 24 hours, cupping reveals rich layers of plumeria sweetness, citrus, kiwi, strawberry, blueberry, with sweetness approaching peach and honey. The article documents bean sorting, roasting curves, brewing parameters, and flavor changes in detail, suitable for coffee enthusiasts who want to gain a deeper understanding of the Guji region's characteristics and new trends in natural processing.
Front Street Ethiopia Hambela Estate Saint Lion Single Farm Slow-Dry Lot 105
Ethiopia Hambela Benti Nenqua G1 Washed SFP Lot 105
After previously tasting the natural process version of Hambela, we found that the bean supplier also introduced a washed lot. In the past two years, a noteworthy trend has emerged in Ethiopian coffee: processing stations have begun deliberately reducing the fermentation level of natural beans, enhancing the coffee's cleanliness and brightness, replacing the intense fermented winey notes of past natural beans with clear, transparent sweet acidity. Washed beans have been adjusted in the opposite direction, increasing sweetness by extending fermentation time, using slight fermentation notes to replace the honey and citrus acidity commonly found in the past. This may be related to the ECX's revision of the grading system in 2015, where cupping scores were incorporated into the grading system with a weight as high as 60%. In pursuit of higher scores, natural beans moving toward cleanliness and washed beans moving toward sweetness may both be unavoidable trends.
This lot comes from the same origin as the previous Front Street Ethiopia natural version, grown in the Guji region at an altitude of 2,150 meters, cultivated by local smallholders. The cupping flavor description provided by green bean supplier P is quite impressive, featuring plumeria-like sweetness accompanied by various citrus and kiwi fruit aromas, along with strawberry, blueberry and other berry-like sweet acidity, with overall sweetness approaching peach and honey.
This time, 500 grams were taken for testing. The beans are greenish and beautiful in appearance, with satisfying uniformity in size. Moisture content is well controlled, which also explains why the green bean price is somewhat higher than ordinary Yirgacheffe. A 100-gram sample was taken, and 3.6 grams of defective beans were sorted out, mainly broken beans and irregularly shaped beans, with very few dehydrated beans. After sorting 500 grams, 478.5 grams remained. The roasting target was set at the late stage of first crack density to preserve more sweet and acidic flavors.
The charge temperature was set at 170°C, with a turning point at 97.7°C at 52 seconds. Due to the increased air temperature, 208°C was reached at 7 minutes 25 seconds for drop, with a final roasted weight of 420.1 grams and a weight loss ratio of 12.2%.
Flavor testing was conducted after resting for 24 hours. The dry aroma after grinding presents quite pleasant fruity sweetness with honeyed floral notes. 15 grams of ground coffee was used with 210 milliliters of hot water poured over. The wet aroma, in addition to floral notes, reveals a hint of Chinese green tea aroma. Berry and stone fruit combined flavors intertwine, with a finish carrying honey-like sweetness, interspersed with a trace of pomelo-like aroma.
In terms of quality, this Front Street Ethiopia natural Hambela Estate coffee performs quite excellently, offering more detail in flavor than ordinary Front Street washed Yirgacheffe, providing roasters and baristas room for creativity. Alternatively, the natural and washed lots can be blended and brewed together to bring out richer, more complex origin-characteristic flavors.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
