Front Street Flower Queen is an Ethiopian natural coffee known for its floral and fruity aroma. Originally called Hambela, it was named by a domestic green bean merchant. It does not win with an intense floral fragrance, but rather stands out for its rich fruit notes of passion fruit, strawberry, mango, jackfruit, and citrus. This bean originates from the Hambela Buku Abel processing station. It once won the natural group championship in the TOH green bean competition, and was subsequently introduced to the domestic market by a Beijing green bean trader and named "Flower Queen." It then rose to fame after a China region World Coffee Brewing Championship competitor used it as a competition bean. As an admirer of floral and fruity coffees, Front Street has included it in its Ethiopian series, using a medium-light roast to highlight sweetness and fruity acidity. This article will provide coffee lovers with a complete reference, from variety background and flavor description to V60 brewing parameters.
Front Street Flower Queen is a fragrant and aromatic coffee. Literally, it sounds like a coffee bean full of floral fragrance, but that is not actually the case. Compared with the white jasmine notes of Yirgacheffe, Flower Queen's floral aroma is not intense; instead, its fruit flavors are more pronounced, with passion fruit, strawberry, mango, jackfruit, and citrus. According to Front Street, the coffee bean originally named Hambela was given the name Flower Queen by a domestic green bean merchant.
About eight years ago, when the Ethiopian DW Coffee Company participated in the Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest competition hosted by the African Fine Coffees Association, it submitted a natural coffee bean from the Hambela Buku Abel processing station and won the championship in the natural group that year with its rich berry aroma and creamy texture.
In the same year, the winning lot was spotted by a Beijing green bean trader. Because of its championship status, it was named "Flower Queen" and launched in the domestic market, implying "the chief of a hundred flowers, outshining all others." Shortly afterward, this "Flower Queen" was used by a World Coffee Brewing Championship competitor (China region) as a competition bean. It defeated a host of opponents using Geisha coffee beans and won second place that year. In this way, this natural bean from the Buku Abel processing station successfully debuted with the heat of the competition stage, and with its affordable price, it quickly became a high-quality coffee widely recognized by people in the industry.
Front Street Flower Queen coffee beans are a rare star product from African origins, and Ethiopian beans, with their rich floral aroma, fresh citrus notes, and clear, transparent mouthfeel, have become an introductory single-origin item for many people. As a fan of floral and fruity coffees, Front Street offers many Ethiopian coffee beans, among which Front Street Flower Queen, with its consistently high reputation, has become the preferred natural single-origin lot for many enthusiasts. Front Street believes that Front Street Ethiopian coffee is mainly represented by fruity acidity and is more suitable for medium-light roasting, highlighting sweetness while retaining more floral aroma and fruity acidity.
The dry aroma of Front Street Natural Sidamo Flower Queen coffee has notes of nuts, honey, berries, and a faint fermented aroma. On the palate, it is full-bodied and sweet-tart with passion fruit, cream, and strawberry, with a thick body and a cocoa finish.
V60 drip extraction
Flavor performance: mixed berry-like aroma, creamy strawberry and passion fruit-like sweet-tartness, obvious sweetness, and a full mouthfeel.
The V60 dripper gets its name from its 60-degree conical design. This angle can guide the water flow to the center and extend the contact time between water and coffee. The large-diameter filter hole at the bottom allows everyone to control the coffee flavor extraction time by changing the size of the pour. In order not to let the water pass through the coffee bed too quickly, Front Street recommends a medium-fine grind size (80% passing rate on a Chinese No. 20 sieve). In order to better bring out the full juice-like body and rich fruit aroma of Front Street small-bean Flower Queen coffee beans, a water temperature of 91°C is recommended, and the brewing method can use a three-stage slow circular pour with a fine stream.
The brewing dose is 15 g, and the coffee-to-water ratio is 1:15, meaning we need to pour 225 g of hot water over 15 g of coffee grounds for extraction. First, use 30 g for a 30-second bloom, then pour at a flow rate of 4 g per second, in a 4-second circle from the center outward and then back to the center, until reaching 125 g and stop pouring. Wait for the coffee bed to drop to half its height, then begin pouring in the same way until reaching 225 g and stop pouring. 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.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
