Where does the Hunkute coffee name come from?

Hunkute is not a floral coffee, despite what the name suggests. Its dominant notes are tropical fruit: passion fruit, strawberry, mango, jackfruit, and citrus. It comes from the Buku Abel estate in Hambella, in Ethiopia's Guji region, and in 2017 it drew attention by winning a green coffee competition and placing second in a brewing competition.

Guji is Ethiopia's largest producing region, and Hambella sits at its southern edge, bordered by Yirgacheffe sub-regions and other Guji zones. The exporter behind the bean owns the Dimtu core area, which holds four estate processing plants, and only sun-dried coffee from Buku Abel carries the name. That is why green coffee beans from this single estate are tracked so closely each season.

Huakui coffee is often mistaken for having intense floral aromas, but it is actually dominated by tropical fruit notes such as passion fruit, strawberry, and mango. It comes from the Buku Abel estate in Hambella, Guji region, Ethiopia. In 2017, it rose to fame by winning the green bean competition and placing second in the brewing competition, becoming the only coffee capable of rivaling Geisha. This article provides a complete overview of Huakui's origins, from the story behind its name, terroir, and sun-dried processing to its brand narrative, and recommends Front Street Sun-Dried Huakui — with roasting curves updated for each batch and a commitment to fresh roasting within 5 days of shipping, ensuring the longest peak flavor period.

Huakui , judging by the name alone, easily brings to mind a bean with "intense floral aromas."

But that is not the case. Its floral notes are not prominent; what truly stands out are its fruit characteristics, such as passion fruit, strawberry, mango, jackfruit, and citrus. If you want to try Huakui, we recommend Front Street Sun-Dried Huakui as your first choice. Front Street releases a new batch every year, adjusting the optimal roasting curve based on the condition of that season's Huakui, and promises fresh roasting within 5 days of shipping, so you receive it at its longest peak flavor period.

So why is this coffee from Ethiopia called "Huakui"?

Guji (GUJI) is the largest coffee-producing region in Ethiopia, and Huakui comes from Hambella, a sub-region under Guji.

Hambella is under the jurisdiction of Oromiyaa, the southernmost state in Ethiopia. To its west, across the mountains, lies Kochore, a sub-region of Yirgacheffe; to the east is Shakiso; to the south is Uraga; and to the north is Kercha. Shakiso, Uraga, and Kercha are also sub-regions of Guji. According to statistics, there are about 20 processing plants within Hambella, scattered across different villages and estates of varying scales. DW Coffee Export (detailed below), the company behind Huakui, owns a core production area called Dimtu in Hambella, with an annual output of approximately 1,100 tons of coffee. Within Dimtu there are four estate processing plants: Buku Abel, Buku Saysay, Haro Soresa, and Tirtiro Goye. Among them, only the sun-dried coffee produced and processed by Buku Abel estate can be called "Huakui," which is why Buku Abel estate is also known as "Huakui Estate."

Huakui Estate sits halfway up a mountain at a growing altitude of 2,000 meters, covering about 80 hectares, and is owned by the local DW company. Sugarcane and Ethiopian banana grow in the forest surrounding the estate, giving the estate's coffee similar flavor notes. Under the combined influence of high altitude and microclimate, Huakui Estate nurtures coffee beans with a distinctive flavor profile.

The small village that made "Huakui"

Buku Abel is a small mountain village surrounded by mountains. At first, it had neither an estate nor a processing plant. Everything began with the lush, verdant native coffee trees on the mountain behind the village.

These native coffee trees are varieties unique to Ethiopia, and every December they are laden with bright red coffee cherries. Villagers go to the mountain behind the village to pick the red cherries, remove defects, and then transport them to the African drying beds at the village entrance for sun-dried processing.

The processed coffee beans are sold for money, becoming the economic backbone of the villagers and sustaining the entire village. Year after year, the area on the mountain behind Buku Abel gradually evolved into Buku Abel Coffee Estate; the place at the village entrance with neatly arranged African drying beds became the Buku Abel processing plant.

Huakui Estate's sun-dried processing is quite meticulous. Only when the red cherries reach a sugar content of 30 do they meet the picking standard and qualify for the sun-drying stage.

The first two days of sun-drying are crucial; the moisture level of the red cherries must be maintained at a certain value for the fruit sugars to begin fermenting. Besides humidity, temperature also affects the processing outcome. Every harvest season, Ethiopia's climate is cool, with nighttime temperatures at the processing plant around 12 degrees Celsius. The low temperatures prevent the coffee beans on the drying beds from over-fermenting and developing off-flavors. At noon when temperatures rise, the red cherries are shaded to prevent sun damage; at night, thick plastic sheeting is used to cover the surface to protect the coffee cherries from sudden rain.

After about 18 days of meticulous care, the moisture content of the green beans drops to about 13%, completing the sun-dried processing. The green coffee beans are packed into burlap sacks and stored in warehouses for 50 days, allowing the moisture content to continue decreasing. Once the moisture content drops to around 11%, they are transported to the processing plant for hulling, grading, and sale.

Huakui Estate belongs to the Demse family, who have grown coffee for generations. In addition to Hambella, the Demse family owns extensive coffee estates and more than 10 processing plants in Guji, Yirgacheffe, and Sidamo.

In recent years, the family has continuously sought out and acquired premium coffee-producing areas, building processing plants near the production sites. The Demse family founded DW Coffee Export in 2015 and began engaging in international green bean trade.

This practice broke the family's long-standing convention of selling all coffee beans to the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECL), which handles exports, and also means the Huakui we drink meets the specialty coffee requirement of "traceability."

Why is it called "Huakui"?

The name Huakui was given by the Chinese people who first encountered this bean.

In February 2017, a sun-dried coffee from Buku Abel estate in Hambella won first place in the Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest Competition. Four months later, at the World Coffee Brewing Championship China regional final, Li Jianfei used this Ethiopian sun-dried coffee to win second place. The result caused a sensation because it broke Geisha's monopoly in brewing competitions, becoming the only coffee at the time capable of rivaling it.

The English name of Geisha, "Geisha," means "geisha" in Japanese; in Chinese culture, the top-ranking geisha is called "Huakui" (courtesan laureate). When Chinese people first encountered the sun-dried coffee from Buku Abel estate in Hambella, they believed that with proper subsequent processing, this bean had the potential to become a top-tier geisha. So they named it "Huakui," meaning "chief of a hundred flowers, graceful and alluring," hoping it would compete and vie for beauty alongside Geisha.

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