How do you brew Huakui fine coffee at home?

Huakui is a natural Ethiopian bean from the Buku Abel processing station in Hambella that won the natural group at the 2017 Taste of Harvest competition, and it has been a fruit-forward staple for eight years. To release its berry and creamy qualities, the guide covers five methods: V60, Clever Cup, French Press, AeroPress, and cold brew.

Each year brings a new version number because Huakui is defined by lot and season rather than variety or origin alone, unlike Geisha or Blue Mountain. That naming logic is tied to places like the geisha village in Ethiopia, where variety names come from. Approachable pricing helped this fine coffee spread quickly, and the five brew methods let drinkers repeat a full, juicy cup at home.

Front Street Coffee's Huakui has been a classic staple for fruit-flavor lovers for eight years now. But what exactly qualifies a bean to be called "Huakui"? Why does it get a new version number every year? And what brewing techniques are needed to fully unlock its berry and creamy qualities? This article will trace Huakui's origins and definition from the beginning, explain Front Street Huakui's flavor characteristics in detail, and introduce five extraction methods—V60, Clever Cup, French Press, AeroPress, and cold brew—to help you consistently recreate that full, juicy Huakui flavor at home.

Front Street Huakui Coffee is one of the daily essentials for many coffee lovers who prefer fruity notes, and it has quietly passed its eighth harvest season. So what conditions must a coffee bean meet to deserve the name "Huakui"? And if you want to fully release its flavor essence, what should you pay attention to during brewing? Next, let us follow Front Street's perspective and turn the timeline back to February 2017.

What Is Huakui Coffee?

About eight years ago, Ethiopian DW Coffee Company submitted a natural bean from the Buku Abel processing station in Hambella to the Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest competition hosted by the African Fine Coffees Association, and with its bold berry aroma and creamy smooth texture, it took first place in the natural group that year.

In the same year, this winning lot caught the attention of a Beijing green bean trader in China, and because of its championship status, it was introduced to the Chinese market under the name "Huakui," meaning "chief of a hundred flowers, outshining all others." Later, a competitor in the China selection round of the World Brewers Cup chose this bean and stood out among many Geisha rivals to win runner-up. As a result, this natural bean from the Buku Abel processing station officially entered the public eye on the heat of the competition, and with its approachable pricing, it quickly became widely recognized in the industry as a high-quality coffee.

Generally speaking, coffee beans are named for clear reasons and rarely change, such as Geisha for variety, Blue Mountain for origin, and Gutingting for processing station. But Huakui is an exception. It is more like Apple's iPhone, needing a new "version number" every year before it can be released. What is the reason behind this?

In fact, before this bean was called "Huakui," it had only an English name, "Hambella," and was essentially a natural G1 coffee from the Hambella region, while "Buku Abel" was more precise traceability information. After Huakui became famous in 2017, market demand surged, so DW Company added five independent specialty coffee drying stations in Hambella Wamena Wereda, all located in the core production area of Dimtu town. In addition to the original Buku Abel, four small villages—Buku Saysay, Haro Soresa, Tirtiro Goye, and Seke Bokosa—also joined the production lineup for natural beans. It is said that at this point DW Company's annual output of "Huakui" had already reached tens of millions of tons.

To further increase "Huakui" production, DW Company not only added processing stations, but also greatly expanded the coffee cherry collection range. Some coffee cherries from neighboring villages are likewise sent to these processing stations for processing and then exported under the name "Hambella G1." In other words, as long as it is Hambella natural G1 processed in these five villages, it can be called "Huakui." Strictly speaking, however, only the area processed within "Buku Abel" village covers the small production area of the winning natural lot from that year, and it is also the most likely to present a coffee close to that cup of "Huakui flavor" from back then.

Why Did "Huakui x.0" Appear?

As everyone knows, coffee is essentially an economic crop. Its yield and quality in a given year are first affected by factors such as climate and rainfall, altitude and soil, and fertilization and weeding. Then differences in processing details—sunlight duration, temperature, and humidity—lead to different flavor directions. Huakui is naturally no exception.

Since the 2018 harvest season, the natural G1 from the same growing origin and processing station has no longer tasted like the 2017 Huakui. Therefore, in order to continue selling this Hambella natural bean while distinguishing it from the original version, the Chinese green bean company counted forward from 2017 as the baseline and added an X.0 suffix to each subsequent year's lot. For example, the 2018 lot was called "Huakui 2.0," the 2019 production was called "Huakui 3.0 and 3.1," and so on.

Flavor Characteristics of Front Street Huakui Coffee

As a star product of African coffee, Ethiopian beans have become many people's first choice for beginners because of their rich floral aroma, fresh citrus notes, and clean, transparent mouthfeel. As an advocate of floral and fruity coffee, Front Street has several Front Street Ethiopian coffees on its bean list, among which Front Street Huakui, with its consistently high reputation, has become the preferred natural single-origin lot for many enthusiasts. Front Street believes that Front Street Ethiopian coffee, represented by fruity acidity, is better suited to medium-light roasting, highlighting sweetness while preserving more floral and fruity acidity.

The dry aroma of Front Street Natural Sidamo Huakui Coffee carries notes of nuts, honey, berries, and slight fermentation. On the palate, it has a full, sweet-and-sour taste like passion fruit, cream, and strawberry, with a thick body and a cocoa finish.

V60 Pour-Over Extraction

Flavor performance: mixed berry-like aroma, creamy strawberry and passion fruit-like sweetness and acidity, pronounced sweetness, and a full mouthfeel.

The V60 dripper gets its name from its 60-degree conical design. This angle guides the water flow to gather toward the center and extends the contact time between water and coffee. The large hole at the bottom lets you control flavor extraction time by adjusting the pour rate. To avoid water passing through the coffee bed too quickly, Front Street recommends a medium-fine grind (80% passing through a Chinese No. 20 sieve). To better showcase the full juice-like body and rich fruit aroma of Front Street's small-bean Huakui coffee, a water temperature of 91°C is recommended, and the brewing method can use a three-stage slow circular pour with a fine stream.

Use 15 g of coffee grounds with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, meaning 15 g of coffee grounds need 225 g of hot water for extraction. First, bloom with 30 g of water for 30 seconds. Then, using a flow rate of 4 g per second and one circle every 4 seconds, pour from the center outward in circles and back to the center until reaching 125 g, then stop. When the coffee bed has dropped by half, pour in the same way until reaching 225 g, then stop. After all the coffee liquid in the dripper has flowed into the server, remove the dripper to end extraction. The brewing time is 2 minutes 10 seconds.

Clever Cup Immersion-Filter Extraction

Flavor performance: mixed berry-like aroma, the fullness of strawberry juice, creamy smoothness, and a black tea-like finish.

The Clever Cup has a two-layer structure at the bottom. The outer layer provides support, while the inner layer features a press-type shutoff valve. As long as it is not placed on a container, the valve remains closed, allowing the coffee grounds to steep inside. After steeping is complete, place the dripper on a container, and the center of the base is pressed, causing the piston valve to open and the coffee liquid to flow into the container. Because it uses immersion extraction, Front Street recommends a medium grind (75% passing through a Chinese No. 20 sieve), a water temperature of 90°C, and a brewing method using a centered fine stream.

Use 15 g of coffee grounds with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, meaning 15 g of coffee grounds need 225 g of hot water for extraction. First, move the Clever Cup onto the scale (the valve will close automatically at this point), and pour the ground coffee into the center of the dripper. Start the timer. For the first stage, pour 30 g of hot water in a "Z" pattern to bloom for 30 seconds. After blooming, there is no need to pour in circles; pour hot water in a fine centered stream until reaching 225 g, then steep for 1 minute 50 seconds. After steeping is complete, place the Clever Cup on a container to open the valve and filter out the coffee liquid from the dripper. The whole process takes about 15 seconds, and the total coffee extraction time is 2 minutes 5 seconds.

French Press Immersion Extraction

Flavor performance: mixed berry-like aroma, complex juice-like character, pronounced creamy mouthfeel, and an overall full and rich body.

The French press consists of a heat-resistant glass container and a metal filter with a plunger, and it mainly extracts coffee through immersion. During extraction, the longer the steeping time, the more substances are extracted from the coffee until saturation—meaning the longer it steeps, the stronger the coffee. At the same time, filtration through the metal mesh retains a large amount of oils in the coffee, making the mouthfeel smoother, but because fine grounds cannot be completely filtered out, there is a slight sediment sensation. To avoid over-extraction, Front Street recommends a medium-coarse grind (71% passing through a Chinese No. 20 sieve), a water temperature of 92°C, and a steeping time of 4 minutes.

Use 15 g of coffee grounds with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio. Pour the ground coffee into the pot, then pour in 225 ml of hot water, pull up the plunger, cover with the lid, and wait 4 minutes. Then slowly press down the plunger so that the metal filter is pressed to one quarter of the pot's height, avoiding fine grounds at the bottom surging upward.

AeroPress Pressure Extraction

Flavor performance: saturated berry-like acidity and aroma, pronounced sweetness, creamy smoothness, high cleanliness, and a clear black tea-like character.

The AeroPress can be simply divided into three main parts: the chamber, the filter cap, and the plunger. It combines the immersion extraction method of a French press, the paper filtration of pour-over coffee, and the pressure extraction of an espresso machine. Its working principle is to stir and mix coffee grounds with hot water, then use the plunger to press air through the filter cap to extract clean-flavored coffee. Because it is a short-time pressure extraction, Front Street recommends a fine grind (90% passing through a Chinese No. 20 sieve) and a water temperature of 90°C.

Use 15 g of coffee grounds. First, place the round paper filter into the filter cap and wet it with water so it adheres. Next, attach the filter cap to the chamber and place it upright on the server. Put on the funnel and pour in 15 g of ground coffee. Then start timing, pour in hot water until the water level reaches the "④" mark on the chamber, and use a stirrer to stir the coffee grounds slightly so that all the coffee is wet by the water. Attach the plunger. Because positive pressure will cause coffee to drip into the server, after pouring water, the actions of stirring and attaching the plunger should be done quickly. Once the plunger is attached, the inside becomes sealed and dripping stops. After 1 minute, begin pressing the plunger, and the coffee liquid is forced into the server by pressure. When pressing is complete, the time is 1 minute 20 seconds.

Cold Water Immersion Extraction

Flavor performance: complex fruity acidity and aroma, full berry juice character, passion fruit fermentation aroma, balanced sweetness and acidity, and an overall full and rich body.

Cold brew coffee, also known as cold extraction coffee, is made by pouring cold water over coffee grounds and extracting by immersion. The cold brew method can amplify the coffee's various flavors and aromas, reduce acidity, and enhance the coffee's overall body. Because it uses low-temperature extraction, Front Street recommends a medium-fine grind (85% passing through a Chinese No. 20 sieve). For steeping, you can use either room-temperature water or ice water.

Front Street recommends a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15 for making cold brew. For example, add 30 g of coffee to 300 g of room-temperature water and 150 g of ice cubes (or directly add 450 g of room-temperature water), stir thoroughly, and place it in the refrigerator to steep for 12–24 hours. After extraction is complete, filter out the coffee grounds with filter paper or a fine mesh strainer, and it is ready to drink. The best time to taste cold brew is 2–3 days after filtering out the grounds, and it is recommended not to store it for more than 7 days.

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