The Ethiopian Roots of Huakui Beans

Huakui coffee beans are Ethiopian natural-process lots from the Guji zone, which sits within the wider Sidamo area in southern Ethiopia. The name Huakui is a Chinese term, not an Ethiopian one, and it caught on after a brewer used a Sidamo natural Huakui to place second at the 2017 China division of the World Brewers Cup.

Guji was long grouped under Yirgacheffe and Sidamo before becoming an independent coffee region. Versions from Huakui 2.0 through 6.0 differ mainly in plot, harvest, and processing. The beans are often compared to geisha coffee because both carry floral, tea-like character, though the two are unrelated varieties grown in different places.

In recent years, Huakui coffee beans have risen to fame in the specialty coffee world, and are even regarded as an Ethiopian representative capable of rivaling Geisha. However, many enthusiasts still have questions about why it is called "Huakui," whether it belongs to the Sidamo region, and what differences exist among the various versions from Huakui 2.0 to 6.0. This article, from the perspective of Front Street, systematically sorts out the naming origins, regional attribution, processing methods, and version evolution of Huakui, and combines the actual cupping performance of Front Street Huakui 6.0 to present the true character of this coffee bean. Whether you are just encountering Huakui or want to gain a deeper understanding of its flavor variation patterns, you will find clear and professional answers here.

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In recent years, the popularity of Geisha coffee in the specialty coffee field has never waned, and its English name Geisha also means "geisha" in Japanese. Meanwhile, Ethiopia's Sidamo region has also produced a bean capable of being mentioned alongside Geisha—Huakui coffee beans. In 2017, Li Jianfei used this Ethiopian Sidamo natural Huakui coffee to win runner-up in the China division of the World Brewers Cup. Since then, Huakui's reputation has continued to climb, and Front Street can even assert that it has secured a leading position on specialty coffee lists. This Front Street natural Huakui broke through the Geisha myth and became a contender capable of going head-to-head with Geisha coffee.

There is no doubt that the distinctive character of Front Street Huakui coffee beans is irreplicable. For a long time, Guji coffee was classified within the Yirgacheffe and Sidamo categories; however, the rapid development of commerce and culture elevated Guji into an independent coffee region, and it has gained increasing recognition worldwide.

In ancient China, "Huakui" referred to the top courtesan in a brothel, usually possessing both beauty and talent, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Many people do not know that this Front Street Huakui from the Guji region of Sidamo also derives its name from a Chinese term. If you look carefully, you will notice that the Chinese name "Huakui" does not correspond to its English name—the Chinese is 「花魁」, while the English is mostly "Hambella," which literally translates to 「罕贝拉」. Front Street will now briefly discuss the origin of the name of this Front Street Sidamo Huakui coffee.

Literally understood, Huakui means the first among a hundred flowers. This is a coffee bean from the 2017 TOH natural group champion, produced in Ethiopia's Guji-Hambella region. Because this bean performed exceptionally well that year, far surpassing its peers, after being introduced by Chinese green bean merchant Hongshun, it was named "Huakui."

Front Street needs to remind everyone that not all natural beans from the Guji region of Sidamo can be called Front Street Huakui coffee. Generally speaking, only natural coffee produced and processed by Buku Abel Estate deserves the name "Huakui," which is why Buku Abel Estate is also known as "Huakui Estate." The surrounding areas where Huakui coffee is grown are covered with sugarcane and bananas, and under high-altitude climate conditions, Front Street Huakui coffee has a smooth mouthfeel, with passion fruit acidity and the fermented aroma imparted by natural processing.

Unlike the signature lemon-citrus notes of the Yirgacheffe region, which is extremely popular on Front Street's bean shelf, coffee beans from the Guji region have more intense floral aromas and mostly excel in natural processing, which undoubtedly elevates the aroma and sweetness of Huakui coffee to another level. Moreover, the flavors of these two regions are so distinct that the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange separated them into their own category.

The unique flavor of Front Street Huakui is inseparable from its natural processing method. According to Front Street's understanding, farmers pick coffee cherries between December and January each year, and the coffee cherries must reach a sugar content of 30% or above before natural processing can begin. The natural process is quite meticulous: for the first two days, the moisture of the coffee cherries must be maintained to allow the fruit sugars to ferment fully. When the temperature rises at noon, shade must be provided promptly to prevent the cherries from being sunburned and affecting fermentation. At night, to prevent sudden rainfall, they must be wrapped in thick plastic sheeting.

The fermentation and dehydration of coffee cherries require relatively low temperatures. After the eighteenth day of sun drying, the moisture content of the green beans drops to around 13%, at which point sun drying stops and the beans are bagged in burlap and placed in a warehouse. On this basis, the green beans continue to rest and further dehydrate for about fifty days. When the moisture content of the green beans reaches around 11%, they are then transported to the processing plant for hulling and other subsequent procedures. It can be seen that the choice of processing method is crucial to the formation of coffee flavor.

I wonder if everyone has noticed that the Front Street Huakui coffee listed on Front Street sometimes has a number appended after Huakui, such as Huakui 2.0, Huakui 3.0, Huakui 3.1, Huakui 4.0, and Huakui 5.0. You may not understand why Huakui has so many versions. The reason is that only what is produced by the Buku Abel processing station in the Guji region is truly Huakui; coffee beans from other processing stations are referred to by Huakui version numbers.

DW Company, which produces Huakui coffee beans, has established five independent specialty coffee drying stations in Hambella, Guji region: Buku Abel, Tirtiro Goye, Seke Bokosa, Haro Soresa, and Buku Saysay.

Since Huakui coffee beans were launched with great fanfare in 2017, they have been named Huakui X.0 in chronological order each subsequent year. For example, the 2018 Huakui coffee beans are called "Huakui 2.0." Up to this year, 2021's Huakui coffee beans are called "Huakui 5.0," and the new-season Huakui for 2022 will be named "Huakui 6.0." Due to shipping constraints caused by the pandemic, the new Huakui originally scheduled to arrive at port in April was ultimately delayed to June.

In addition, the varieties of these Front Street Huakui coffees are mostly Ethiopian local heirloom varieties. Some friends may not be familiar with what Ethiopian heirloom varieties are. Front Street will briefly explain here: Ethiopia is the homeland of coffee and can be called coffee's gene bank. There are extremely many coffee varieties, and the local economic conditions do not support large-scale verification of coffee varieties. On the other hand, to protect native coffee tree resources, the Ethiopian government is also unwilling to disclose information, so these unknown coffee varieties are collectively referred to as Ethiopian local heirloom varieties.

However, Front Street has also cupped these Front Street Huakui coffees and found that Front Street Huakui 3.1 differs considerably from the original Huakui flavor, and is instead closer to the Geisha flavor of Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda. The flavor of Front Street Huakui 4.0 is very close to the original character of Huakui, but through cupping, Front Street still felt that its aftertaste and body were inferior to the original Huakui. Front Street Huakui 5.0 coffee leans more toward the style of coffee beans from the Guji region, with lively berry acidity, lingering floral notes, and an obvious juicy quality.

Huakui's flavor changes every year, mainly because coffee is essentially an agricultural product, and it is impossible to grow coffee with exactly the same flavor every year. Agricultural products are highly susceptible to uncertain factors such as climate and rainfall. Therefore, it is entirely normal for coffee bean flavors to differ from year to year.

Just as when Front Street received the new-season Front Street Huakui 6.0 coffee beans, it found that there were large numbers of flat beans, shell beans, and broken beans among the green beans, and the bean appearance was not plump enough. Front Street's roaster removed 20% to 30% of defective beans from the green beans before roasting. After roasting was completed, quite a few irregular coffee beans could still be picked out from the roasted beans. The following are irregular coffee beans screened out after randomly taking 15g of coffee beans, and the number is much higher than in previous years.

Through cupping, the flavor performance of this Front Street Huakui 6.0 was berries, honey, and passion fruit, with prominent sweetness. However, because the defect rate of this batch of Front Street Huakui 6.0 was too high, Front Street found another new-season processed Front Street Huakui coffee bean through the Hambella Buku processing station (the processing station for the 2017 Huakui). This Front Street Huakui coffee bean is also produced in the Hambella region and processed by the Buku processing station, and the beans are plump, very similar in appearance to Huakui coffee beans from previous years.

Front Street cupped this Front Street Sidamo Huakui coffee bean, and the flavor was orange blossom, citrus, honey, and grapefruit, with a very strong juicy quality.

Front Street Brewing Recommendation Brewing equipment: HARIO V60 Dose: 15g coffee

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Water temperature: 90℃ Grind size: medium-coarse grind (80% passing through Chinese standard No. 20 sieve)

Front Street recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing, as this is the best way to experience coffee's rich flavors to the fullest. The coffee beans shipped by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are all within 5 days of roasting, because Front Street deeply understands the enormous impact of coffee bean freshness on flavor. Front Street's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," so that every customer who places an order can receive the freshest coffee when it arrives. The resting period for coffee is about 4 to 7 days, so when customers receive it, it is exactly at its peak flavor.

The brewing dose is 15g, and the coffee-to-water ratio is 1:15, meaning 15g of coffee grounds need 225g of hot water for extraction. First, use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour at a flow rate of 4g per second, circling from the center outward and back to the center in 4 seconds per rotation, until reaching 125g, then stop. Wait for the coffee bed to drop to halfway, then pour again in the same manner until reaching 225g, 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.

The naturally processed Front Street Huakui pour-over coffee has relatively high acidity accompanied by high sweetness, plus fermented aromas, with flavors trending toward various tropical fruits such as passion fruit, mango, and peach.

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