What Makes the Huakui Coffee Beans Process Distinct?

Huakui is the annual title for sun-dried G1 coffee from Ethiopia's Hambela region, released each year with a new version number, much like a phone model. The beans come from the Buku Abel processing station, where cherries are dried on raised African beds for about 18 days until moisture drops to 13 percent.

Farmers pick fully ripe red cherries with at least 30 percent sugar content, shade the fruit at midday against high temperatures, and cover it with plastic sheets at night against rain, turning it constantly for even drying. For the 2025 harvest, Front Street's mid-light roast pours well as V60, 15g coffee, 1:15 ratio, 90°C water, medium-fine grind, finishing near 2 minutes 10 seconds.

Huakui is the exclusive title for sun-dried G1 coffee beans from the Hambella region of Ethiopia, released each year with a new version number, and its flavor adjusts with the harvest season. This article traces the complete story of Huakui, from its origins at the Buku Abel processing station, through DW Company's expansion, to the version numbering system, explains its flavor profile interweaving floral notes with tropical fruits, and provides Front Street's mid-light roast pour-over recipe for the 2025 new harvest Huakui: V60 dripper, 15g coffee, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 90°C water temperature, medium-fine grind, three-stage pouring with a total time of about 2 minutes 10 seconds. Additionally, detailed steps for Huakui 8.0 iced pour-over are included, using a stirring technique combined with ice cooling to present a full-bodied juice-like feel.

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Most coffee beans have clear naming bases and usually don't change easily—Geisha refers to the variety, Blue Mountain represents the origin, and Gutingting is the name of a processing station. However, Huakui is an exception; it's more like Apple's iPhone, needing a new "version number" each year to be released. What's the reason behind this?

Actually, before this bean got the title "Huakui," it only had an English name "Hambella," which literally means sun-dried G1 coffee beans from the Hambella region, and "Buku Abel" is its more detailed traceability information.

During each coffee harvest season (December to January of the following year), the Buku Abel processing station arranges for farmers to pick fully ripe red coffee cherries with a sugar content of at least 30. The selected fruits are spread on African raised beds to dry. Due to the large temperature difference between day and night, farmers shade them at noon to prevent excessive fermentation from high temperatures; at night, they cover with plastic sheets to avoid sudden rain soaking the fruits. They constantly turn them all day to ensure even drying and prevent sunburn or undesirable fermentation flavors. After about 18 days of sun-drying, the green coffee beans' moisture content drops to 13%, and they can be hulled by machine.

In 2017, after "Huakui" became famous, market demand surged. To cope with this, DW Company added 5 independent specialty coffee drying stations in Hambella Wamena Wereda, all located in the core production area of Dimtu town. In addition to the earliest Buku Abel, four other small villages—Buku Saysay, Haro Soresa, Tirtiro Goye, and Seke Bokosa—gradually joined the production of sun-dried coffee beans. It is understood that at that time, DW Company's annual output of "Huakui" reached tens of millions of tons.

To further increase "Huakui" production, DW Company not only added processing stations but also expanded the collection range of coffee cherries. Some coffee cherries grown in neighboring villages might also be sent to these processing stations for processing and then exported under the name "Hambella G1." In other words, as long as it's Hambella sun-dried G1 coffee beans processed from these five villages, it can be called "Huakui."

What does Huakui actually taste like?

Literally, many might think Huakui is a coffee with intense floral notes. The reality is different—Huakui's floral aroma isn't particularly prominent; instead, its fruit aroma is especially vivid, such as creamy strawberry, mango, jackfruit, citrus, blueberry, etc. It has the ripe tropical fruit flavor characteristic of Sidamo sun-dried beans, which is impressive. What won "Huakui" the TOH green bean competition championship back then was precisely this rich berry aroma.

However, coffee is essentially an economic crop. The yield and quality of a given year first depend on climate, rainfall, altitude, soil, fertilization, weeding, and other factors, and then differences in processing details (sunlight duration, temperature, humidity) lead to different flavor directions. Huakui is no exception. Therefore, the flavor of each year's Huakui will differ somewhat from the previous year.

Starting from the 2018 harvest season, Huakui (sun-dried G1 coffee beans) from the same origin and processing station already showed flavor changes. Through cupping, Front Street found that although the 2018 and 2019 Huakui retained flavor characteristics similar to 2017, their body and aftertaste were inferior to the "first-generation Huakui."

Thus, to continue selling this Hambella sun-dried coffee while distinguishing it from the original, domestic green bean trading companies added an X.0 suffix to each subsequent year's batch, counting from 2017 as the baseline. For example, the 2018 batch was called "Huakui 2.0," the 2019 one "Huakui 3.0 and 3.1"... Last year's release was "Huakui 7.0," and so on. This way, consumers can identify which year's batch their purchased Huakui belongs to by the suffix.

Front Street 2025 New Harvest Huakui Coffee Beans

Country: Ethiopia Region: Sidamo · Guji Altitude: 2250–2350 meters Variety: Local heirloom Processing: Sun-dried

Flavor: Floral, jackfruit, dried fruit, apricot, juicy

FrontStreet Coffee Barista's Brewing Suggestions Front Street recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing to fully experience the rich flavors. FrontStreet Coffee ships beans within 5 days of roasting because Front Street knows freshness greatly affects flavor. Front Street's roasting philosophy is "Freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring every customer receives the freshest state upon delivery. The resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at its optimal flavor stage.

The 2025 new harvest Front Street Huakui coffee is known for its rich berry aroma and high sweetness. Front Street uses a mid-light roast (with slight adjustments for different batches) to better showcase the "Huakui flavor." This roast level doesn't overly alter the high hardness of high-altitude beans, so brewing requires a higher extraction rate to present fuller flavor layers. A higher water temperature and finer grind are used here to stimulate more aromatic substances.

Brewing equipment: HARIO V60

Dose: 15g coffee

Ratio: 1:15

Water temperature: 90°C

Grind: Medium-fine (80% passing Chinese standard No. 20 sieve)

First stage: pour 30g water for 30-second bloom, then pour 95g (scale shows about 125g), finish pouring in about 1 minute. When water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows about 225g), finish pouring in about 1 minute 35 seconds. Drip completes at 2'10", remove the dripper, extraction complete.

Besides regular hot pour-over, Front Street has noticed many friends enjoy cool iced pour-over coffee. Below, Front Street demonstrates with Front Street Ethiopian Huakui 8.0 how to make a full-bodied, juice-like Huakui iced pour-over at home.

Coffee beans: Front Street 2025 new harvest Huakui

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:11 (160g hot water)

Ice: 75g

Grind: Fine granulated sugar (EK43s setting 9.5, C40 grinder about 22 clicks)

Dripper: Hario V60

Three-stage: 30g, 90g (+stir), 45g.

Before pouring, place ice cubes in the server, then add all coffee grounds. The first bloom stage remains the same, pour 30g with a small stream in circles from center outward.

After 30 seconds, pour 90g hot water in circles with a larger stream, raising the water level. When the scale shows 120g, stop pouring. Use a small spoon to draw 5 circles along the dripper wall in one direction, then wait for the coffee liquid to slowly drip down.

When the water in the dripper is about to run out, pour the remaining 45g hot water with the small stream in small circles, until all coffee liquid drips through. Then remove the dripper to end extraction. The total time will be around 1 minute 55 seconds to 2 minutes 5 seconds.

The resulting Front Street Huakui 8.0 iced coffee is full-bodied, with an overall tendency toward yellow stone fruit notes. Due to the stirring action, the coffee has rich fruit acidity and a clean, moist sweetness. Cooled by ice, it's like drinking a refreshing glass of grape juice.

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