How Does Huakui 5.0 Compare With Small-Bean Huakui Coffee?

The 2021 new-crop Huakui 5.0 coffee beans have reached port and were roasted and cupped for comparison against small-bean Huakui. In the cup, small-bean Huakui stays close to the strawberry-and-cream profile of the 2017 champion lot, while Huakui 5.0 shows brighter berry acidity and floral notes.

The Huakui line began with a natural-process bean from the Buku Abel station that won the 2017 TOH natural group, and later grew into numbered releases as the producer expanded to four Guji Hambela stations. Small-bean Huakui sits outside that numbering. Reviews like this one appeal to drinkers who follow geisha coffe and other competition-level lots and brew them as pour-over.

The 2021 new-crop Huakui 5.0 coffee beans have arrived at port. Front Street immediately roasted and cupped them, and deliberately compared them with their own beloved small-bean Huakui coffee beans. This article will guide you through the evolution of the Huakui series from the 2017 TOH champion bean to Huakui 5.0, and explain why small-bean Huakui stands independently outside the X.0 series. Then, through visual comparisons of green and roasted beans, differences in cup flavors, and performance under a unified pour-over regimen, it presents in detail the characteristics of the two beans: small-bean Huakui is closer to the rich strawberry-cream profile of the classic 2017 Huakui, while Huakui 5.0 shows brighter berry acidity and floral notes. Whether you are a Huakui enthusiast or are currently selecting new-crop beans, this review offers practical reference.

The 2021 new-crop Huakui 5.0 coffee beans have arrived at port, and Front Street has been paying close attention. After the first batch of Huakui 5.0 arrived at the store in April this year, Front Street immediately roasted and cupped it, and deliberately compared it with their preferred small-bean Huakui coffee beans.

How to identify Huakui coffee beans?

Search for Huakui coffee beans in a search engine, and you will see different versions such as Huakui 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0... Front Street will briefly sort out the differences among these Huakui coffee beans here.

Cast your mind back to 2017, when a natural-process coffee bean from DW Company's "Buku Abel" processing station won the TOH natural group championship. At that time, a Chinese green bean merchant introduced this champion bean into China and named it "Huakui." This bean had an intense strawberry and cream aroma. In the same year, Li Jianfei from Beijing used this Huakui coffee to win second place in the China region of the 2017 World Brewers Cup (most other competitors that year chose Geisha). This also greatly increased the visibility of Huakui coffee beans. It should be noted that at this time, Huakui coffee beans held the title of the 2017 TOH champion bean.

Afterward, DW Company expanded to 4 processing stations in the Guji Hambela region, namely Buku Abel, Buku Saysay, Haro Soresa, and Tirtiro Goye. Then in 2018 it launched Huakui 2.0, in 2019 it launched Huakui 3.0 and 3.1, in 2020 it launched Huakui 4.0, and in 2021, this year, it launched Huakui 5.0.

From this it is easy to see that the naming of Huakui X.0 is tied to the year, so when you see Huakui 3.0, you can tell it is coffee beans from the 2019 crop; when you see Huakui 4.0, you know it is coffee beans from the 2020 crop. In addition to the year pattern, the 2017 Huakui coffee was processed naturally only by the Buku Abel processing station, while DW Company expanded its processing stations year by year and increased production, and its flavor is already clearly different from the 2017 Huakui. Strictly speaking, only naturally processed coffee beans handled by the Buku Abel processing station can truly be called Huakui coffee beans.

The flavor and aroma of small-bean Huakui are very similar to the 2017 Huakui. At first, Front Street tasted flavors close to the 2017 Huakui in the 2018 and 2019 Huakui coffees, but the body and aftertaste were not as good as the 2017 Huakui. Front Street found that the main source of the 2017 Huakui's aroma was some particularly small-bean varieties among the Huakui coffee beans, and similar small beans were also found in the 2018 and 2019 Huakui coffees. Starting in 2020, the processing station processed small-bean Huakui separately, so small-bean Huakui does not belong to the [X.0] series. Since 2020, DW Company has separated and processed the small-bean varieties independently, forming small-bean Huakui coffee beans.

Comparison of small-bean Huakui and Huakui 5.0 coffee beans

First, observe the comparison photos of green beans and roasted beans of small-bean Huakui and Huakui 5.0. Both are coffee beans from the 2021 new crop. The small-bean Huakui coffee beans are noticeably smaller than those of Huakui 5.0. The proportion of small beans is clearly higher than in Huakui 5.0.

After receiving Huakui 5.0, Front Street roasted it and conducted a cupping comparison with the small-bean Huakui coffee. Through cupping, Front Street found that the small-bean Huakui coffee beans have a deeper and richer strawberry aroma and berry sweetness, while the 2021 Huakui 5.0 coffee shows more active berry acidity and brighter acidity.

Small-bean Huakui: cream strawberry, citrus, passion fruit, fermented wine aroma

Huakui 5.0: berries, citrus, honey, mango, floral

From the cupping, the flavor of small-bean Huakui is closer to the 2017 Huakui coffee beans, while Huakui 5.0 leans toward the flavor profile of the Guji region (berry acidity, floral notes, fruit juice).

Next, let us look at the pour-over flavor comparison. Both coffee beans use the following brewing regimen:

Dripper: V60#01

Water temperature: 90-91℃

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: medium-fine grind (80% passing through a Chinese standard No. 20 sieve)

Brewing method: three-stage extraction. Use 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, pour in a small stream in circles until 125 grams for the first stage, then when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed continue pouring until 225 grams and stop pouring. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. (Time from the start of the bloom) the extraction time is 2'00".

Flavor comparison

Small-bean Huakui: sweet berry aroma, cream strawberry, passion fruit, rich fruity sweetness, full-bodied.

Huakui 5.0: floral, the sweet-tartness of berries, citrus, and plum, mango juice, honey, with a black tea-like sweet finish.

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