Why Is Ethiopian Huakui Coffee Named That Way?

Huakui coffee comes from Ethiopia and rose from an underdog competition lot to a TOH champion. Its name traces back to the sun-drying process at Buku Abel Estate and the later "Huakui X.0" naming method. Understanding coffee producing regions helps: Sidamo sits in southern Ethiopia, and the ECX system split Yirgacheffe and Guji out as separate areas.

Sidamo coffee shows prominent fruity acidity and a rich, intense aroma, balanced between fragrance and mouthfeel. Starbucks applied to trademark the name "Sidamo" in 2006; the dispute ran two years and ended with the application withdrawn and a purchase agreement instead. Green coffee beans from Huakui lots are usually sold under specific version numbers.

Huakui coffee is one of the representatives of Ethiopian specialty coffee, and behind its name lies a story of an underdog competition bean rising to become a TOH champion. This article begins with the administrative divisions of the Sidamo and Guji producing regions, and traces the origins of Huakui coffee, the sun-drying process at Buku Abel Estate, and the origin of the "Huakui X.0" naming method. It also introduces the flavor differences between Front Street Small-Bean Huakui and Front Street Sun-Dried Huakui 5.0, and includes recommended brewing parameters for Front Street Huakui coffee, making it suitable for enthusiasts who want to gain a deeper understanding of this coffee.

Sidamo is located in southern Ethiopia, and the local climate conditions and geographical environment are quite favorable for the growth of coffee cherries. In this area, Yirgacheffe and Guji are both well-known coffee beans. According to Front Street Coffee, the ECX trading system has separated Yirgacheffe and Guji from Sidamo, making them independent producing regions. Sidamo coffee has quite prominent fruity acidity and a rich, intense aroma. Front Street Coffee believes that its aroma profile is in no way inferior to Yirgacheffe's, and may even surpass it, making it especially suitable for coffee lovers who prefer rich, full-bodied flavors. It achieves a good balance and harmony between aroma and mouthfeel, so a cup of Front Street Sidamo coffee is well suited to being savored slowly on a leisurely afternoon or evening with light classical music.

Sidamo Coffee Producing Region

As one of Ethiopia's specialty coffee producing regions, the Sidamo coffee producing region is located in southern Ethiopia, adjacent to another specialty producing region, Yirgacheffe. Sidamo is not only a coffee producing region; it also represents a coffee brand. In 2006, Starbucks applied to trademark the name "Sidamo," a move that triggered strong dissatisfaction and backlash from Ethiopia's coffee industry. This trademark dispute lasted for two years and ultimately ended with Starbucks withdrawing its trademark application, with the two sides reaching a settlement and Starbucks continuing to purchase and sell Sidamo coffee beans through cooperation instead.

The characteristic of Sidamo coffee is that the coffee produced in this region has very diverse flavors, because different areas have their own soil compositions, microclimates, and numerous native coffee varieties, which gives the coffee from each area clear differences and distinct character. According to Ethiopia's administrative divisions, there are four levels: Region, Zone, Woreda, and Kebele, roughly equivalent to China's province, city, district, and neighborhood. The famous Huakui coffee beans come from Guji city in the Sidamo region, and can be further broken down to Shakisso Woreda and Hambella Kebele. Therefore, once Hambella is mentioned, seasoned coffee fans will definitely know that it refers to Huakui coffee, because this Huakui coffee bean produced in Hambella is simply too famous.

"Huakui" is called the maiden of Hambella, and this coffee can be considered the leading star among a thousand flowers. Front Street has learned that behind this name is actually a story of coffee beans striving to succeed. Before becoming "Huakui," this bean was merely an ordinary "competition award-winning bean" in Ethiopia, not particularly remarkable among Ethiopian coffees. Among major producing regions such as Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Limu, and Harrar, this coffee bean, not yet crowned with the name "Huakui," was still unknown.

However, in 2017, the Ethiopian green coffee company DW sent this sun-dried green bean to TOH (the Taste Of Harvest) competition, where it won the favor of a panel of international judges with its rich strawberry-and-cream flavor and took first place. Beijing Hongshun Green Coffee introduced the same batch of coffee beans into the Chinese market. Because of its unique flavor, it had the potential to become the next "Geisha" with only slight improvements in green bean processing, so high hopes were placed on it, and it was named "Huakui," meaning chief of a hundred flowers.

In the same year, in the China division of the World Brewers Cup, competitor Li Jianfei used the same award-winning batch of Huakui coffee beans and defeated many opponents using Geisha coffee beans, achieving second place that year. Today, Huakui coffee has become one of the representatives of Ethiopia's producing regions, deeply loved by coffee fans around the world, and has also witnessed the development of Ethiopian coffee.

From the map of Ethiopia's coffee producing regions, it can be seen that Guji and Sidamo are separate, because Guji's geographical location is superior enough and the coffee it produces has a uniquely distinctive flavor. As early as 2010, it was separated from the Sidamo producing region by the ECX (Ethiopia Commodity Exchange). Moreover, the Hambella sub-region that produces Huakui coffee beans is the coffee sub-region with the highest growing altitude in Ethiopia.

This award-winning Huakui comes from Buku Abel Estate, so Buku Abel Estate is also known as Huakui Estate. The estate is surrounded by mountains, with red-brown organic soil and an average annual rainfall of more than 1200 mm, which is very suitable for the growth of coffee cherries. Ripe coffee fruits are hand-picked, and the standards for the fruit are quite strict: only those with a sugar content of 30% or above can undergo sun-drying.

In the first two days of sun-drying, the humidity of the red cherries needs to be maintained so that the fruit sugars can fully begin fermentation. At the same time, because of the high-altitude geographical location, nighttime temperatures can drop to around 12°C, so there is no overly fermented odor caused by excessively high temperatures. When the midday temperature is higher, the estate provides shade to prevent the red cherries from being sunburned. Only fully red, completely ripe coffee cherries are selected, hand-picked, dried on African raised beds, with the thickness of the fruit layer limited, and turned regularly at fixed intervals throughout the day to ensure even sun exposure and ventilation and to grasp the degree of fermentation more accurately. At night, thick plastic sheeting is used for covering to prevent sudden rain. In this way, the red cherries ferment and dehydrate at a relatively low temperature.

After 18 days of sun-drying, the moisture content of the green coffee beans drops to about 13%, after which sun-drying is stopped, and the beans are put into burlap sacks and placed in a warehouse under natural conditions of 12 to 22°C and 40% to 50% humidity for about 50 days of green bean resting and further dehydration. Only when the moisture content of the green beans reaches about 10% can they be transported to the processing plant for hulling, sorting, and sale.

It is precisely thanks to such a superior growing environment that the flavor of Front Street Sidamo Sun-Dried Huakui coffee is even sweeter and more fragrant. You can taste the aroma of passion fruit, rose floral notes, and sweet strawberry flavor, and its juicy mouthfeel makes you feel as if you are in a sweet, rich orchard. Front Street Coffee believes that this is exactly where the unique charm of Front Street Huakui coffee lies, and its champion title is fully deserved. And after tasting Front Street Huakui coffee, who could fail to be charmed by it?

So, what kind of coffee beans can be considered "Huakui coffee beans"? Front Street Coffee mentioned earlier that Huakui coffee beans come from Buku Abel, and in addition, only coffee beans processed by the sun-dried method can be considered Huakui coffee beans.

Buku Abel means "new place" in the local Ethiopian language. In this ancient country with more than two thousand years of history and a population of 100 million, the East African Rift Valley blocks the road to Asia, but on this plateau new virgin land is still constantly being discovered and waiting to be developed. Compared with millennia of culture, this is a fairly newly developed land.

Buku Abel is located in southeastern Ethiopia and is an extremely high-altitude indigenous tribe within the Hambela area of the Guji producing region, with a population of about 30,000. Like most Ethiopian coffee gardens, this small village grows among wild virgin forests. Coffee farmers here have passed down their craft for generations and also plant native bananas, while interplanting local native coffee tree varieties among the banana groves.

Friends who have been following Front Street Huakui coffee beans should have noticed that the naming method for Huakui coffee beans is quite interesting: it appears in the form of "Huakui X.0." With this naming method, as the years accumulate, the number after it also increases accordingly. For example, 2018 was Huakui 2.0, 2019 was Huakui 3.0, 2020 was Huakui 4.0, and 2021 was naturally Huakui 5.0. The harvest for the 2022 crop year is already nearing its end, and barring any surprises, this year's will be Front Street Sidamo Sun-Dried Huakui 6.0.

Front Street is just as full of anticipation as everyone else for the arrival of Huakui 6.0. However, haste makes waste, and in the end we still have to wait. Huakui 6.0 is expected to arrive at port in April, and Front Street has already reserved the batch at the first opportunity. Everyone can keep an eye out for Front Street's news, and Front Street will live up to expectations and let everyone taste the fresh flavor of Front Street Sidamo Sun-Dried Huakui 6.0.

At present, Front Street's bean shelf has two Huakui coffee beans: Front Street Small-Bean Huakui and Front Street Sun-Dried Huakui 5.0. Front Street once found some smaller coffee beans in Huakui 2.0 and Huakui 3.0, and also found the same small beans in Huakui coffee beans from later crop years. Through cupping, Front Street found that the aroma of Huakui coffee mainly comes from these small Huakui coffee beans.

In 2020, DW's Buku Abel processing plant also processed these small Huakui coffee beans separately and established a brand for them, namely "Small-Bean Huakui." Through cupping the two Front Street Huakui coffee beans currently on the bean shelf, Front Street found that Front Street Small-Bean Huakui coffee has a fuller aroma, and its flavor is closer to the strawberry-and-cream flavor of the 2017 TOH sun-dried champion; while Front Street Sun-Dried Huakui 5.0 leans more toward the flavor of the Guji producing region, with citrus and berry notes, as well as elegant floral aroma and tea-like character.

To explore the flavor differences between the two coffee beans, the obvious way is to try them directly. The coffee beans Front Street sends to everyone are roasted within 5 days of the order time, and by the time they arrive they have just passed the 4-to-7-day resting period, right at their peak flavor. Some friends do not have satisfactory grinding equipment at home and will note the option for pre-ground coffee. Front Street also provides this service, but once coffee beans are ground into powder, degassing becomes more active and flavor compounds dissipate faster, so buying whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing gives better flavor.

Some friends who have coffee grinding equipment at home also often ask Front Street: how fine should the grind be? Because grinding equipment differs, the settings used vary greatly. In order to have relatively unified data, Front Street uses the Chinese standard No. 20 sieve when determining the grind level of coffee beans. For pour-over, the grind level generally falls between 70% and 80% passing rate through the sieve, depending on the roast level.

To highlight its berry and citrus notes and tropical fruit juice-like character, Front Street Huakui coffee beans are roasted to a medium-light level, so the grind level chosen is 80% passing rate through the Chinese standard No. 20 sieve, using 90°C hot water and a Hario V60 dripper for brewing.

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 90°C

Dose: 15 g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind level: 80% passing rate through the Chinese standard No. 20 sieve

First pour 30 g of hot water and bloom for 30 seconds, then pour from the center with a thin stream of water and slowly spiral outward to 125 g as the first stage. When the water level in the dripper drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, continue spiral pouring to 225 g and stop pouring. Total extraction time is about 2 minutes.

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.