What Defines Huakui Coffee Beans From Sidamo?
Huakui is a sun-dried Ethiopian coffee from Hambela in the Guji Zone of the Sidamo region. It became known after a lot submitted by the green bean company DW won the Ethiopia division of the 2017 Taste of Harvest competition held by the African Coffee Association. The 2022 Huakui 6.0 lot is the focus of current tasting notes on flavor and mouthfeel.
Administratively the area runs Oromia Region, Guji Zone, Shakisso woreda, Hambella, making Hambela part of Ethiopia's largest coffee producing region. It sits at high altitude, facing Yirgacheffe's Kochore across the mountains to the west. The natural sun-dried process shapes the fruit-forward profile that buyers associate with these green coffee beans.
In recent years, Huakui coffee beans have attracted much attention in the domestic coffee circle. They come from Guji Hambela in the Sidamo region of Ethiopia and rose to fame by winning the 2017 TOH championship. This article will help you fully understand the uniqueness of Huakui coffee beans from multiple angles, including the producing region background, administrative divisions, and sun-dried processing techniques, and will focus on describing the flavor and taste characteristics of 2022 Huakui 6.0. At the same time, Front Street Coffee, as a well-known domestic roaster, will also present its recommendations and interpretation of this bean in the article, helping coffee lovers gain a deeper understanding of this star sun-dried bean from Ethiopia.
Front Street Coffee - Sidamo Huakui Coffee Introduction
In 2017, the Ethiopian green bean company DW sent a batch of coffee beans to the TOH (the Taste Of Harvest) competition held by the African Coffee Association, and this sun-dried lot won the championship in the Ethiopia division in one go. This champion green bean was subsequently named "Huakui," and since then it has risen to fame in the coffee world.
Ethiopian coffee enjoys extremely high praise in China, especially the two major producing regions of Sidamo and Yirgacheffe, which are deeply sought after and loved by domestic coffee enthusiasts. Sidama Province is located in southern Ethiopia, bordering Arsi Province to the north, extending to Bale Province in the east, and adjoining the Gamu Gofa administrative region to the west.
Ethiopia's administrative divisions are divided into four levels, from largest to smallest as Region, Zone, woreda, and kebele. Most green coffee beans are named according to this system. Taking Huakui as an example, it is located southeast of Yirgacheffe in the Sidamo producing region. Administratively, it belongs to Oromia Region → Guji Zone → Shakisso woreda → Hambella.
Huakui is produced in Hambella. Hambela is located in Guji, Ethiopia's largest coffee producing region, and administratively belongs to Oromia State. To the west, Hambella faces Yirgacheffe's Kochore across the mountains, and to the southeast, north, and south it borders Guji's Shakiso, Uraga, and Kercha sub-regions respectively. It is Ethiopia's highest-altitude coffee sub-region (Harrar is Ethiopia's highest-altitude main producing region).
Natural sun-dried (African drying beds):
Sun-dried processing involves spreading coffee cherries directly on concrete ground or drying racks to dry so that the coffee beans can be preserved. The drying time usually depends on weather changes and takes about 2 to 4 weeks.
Coffee used for commercial purposes is usually dried on concrete ground, and the coffee cherries need to be constantly and promptly turned so that both sides are heated evenly, which helps drying and also prevents mold caused by the bottom staying in contact with the ground for too long.
Hand-sorted cherries and coffee beans used to make specialty coffee are sun-dried using African Bed. The coffee cherries are spread on an airy mesh bed to sunbathe, and the thickness of the layer on the rack also varies according to local conditions.
[Sun-dried Huakui green beans]: The beans are somewhat smaller, yellow-tinged green, and vary considerably in size.
[Sun-dried Huakui roasted beans]: Light roast level, relatively light color, no silver skin.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
