What is Huakui coffee and where does it come from?

Huakui is a natural-processed Ethiopian coffee from DW company's Buku Abel processing station in the Guji area. A 2017 TOH natural-group champion lot was brought into China by a green bean merchant and named Huakui; it showed clear strawberry and cream aromas, and its reputation grew after a strong showing at the 2017 World Coffee Brewing Competition China round.

DW later expanded to four processing stations in Hambela and released yearly batches labeled in X.0 format, from Huakui 2.0 in 2018 through Huakui 5.0 in 2021. The numbering tracks the harvest year, since coffee is an agricultural product whose flavor shifts with climate. Small-bean Huakui refers to screen size rather than variety, and Front Street brews it with a V60 dripper and a three-pour method.

Huakui coffee beans have been a hot topic in the specialty coffee scene for years. From the 2017 TOH natural champion to the 2021 Huakui 5.0, the flavor of each harvest is different, which is why DW company uses the X.0 format to distinguish year batches. This article sorts out the origin of Huakui, the meaning of small-bean Huakui, and the characteristics of the natural processing method, and combines Front Street Coffee’s cupping comparison of the 2017 champion batch and the 2021 Huakui 5.0 to explain the similarities and differences in their flavors. Finally, it gives Front Street’s specific parameters and three-pour method for brewing Huakui with a V60 dripper, helping coffee lovers understand this bean’s background and brewing approach more completely.

Friends who often drink specialty coffee have probably all heard of Huakui. So what kind of coffee is Huakui exactly? From the Huakui that competed in 2017 to Huakui 5.0 in 2021, the flavor performance each year has been somewhat different, and discussion around it has never stopped over the years. Coffee beans are ultimately an agricultural product, and when the climate and environment change each year, the flavor naturally changes with it. This is also why DW company split Huakui into multiple X.0 series.

Why are there so many versions of Huakui? And where does the real Huakui come from?

Back in 2017, a natural bean from DW company’s Buku Aebl processing station won the TOH natural group championship that year. A Chinese green bean merchant then introduced this champion bean into China and named it “Huakui.” At the time, this bean had obvious strawberry and cream aromas. In the same year, Li Jianfei from Beijing used this Huakui coffee to win second place in the China region of the 2017 World Coffee Brewing Competition (most other competitors that year used Geisha), and Huakui’s fame rose accordingly. It should be noted that at this point Huakui still carried the title of the 2017 TOH champion bean.

After that, DW company expanded its processing stations in the Hambela region to four: Buku Abel, Buku Saysay, Haro Soresa, and Tirtiro Goye. Then in 2018 it launched Huakui 2.0, in 2019 there were Huakui 3.0 and 3.1, in 2020 it was Huakui 4.0, and by 2021, which is this year, Huakui 5.0 was released.

It is not hard to see that the naming of Huakui X.0 is based on the year. When you see Huakui 3.0, you know it is a bean from the 2019 harvest; when you see Huakui 4.0, it corresponds to the 2020 harvest; Huakui 5.0 is naturally the 2021 harvest. Strictly speaking, only natural coffee beans processed at the Buku Abel processing station deserve the name Huakui.

What are small-bean Huakui coffee beans?

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) found in the 2018 and 2019 batches of Huakui that the flavor was quite close to the original Huakui, only the body and aftertaste could not compare with the 2017 batch. Interestingly, Front Street can sometimes still pick out small green beans exactly like the original Huakui from these two batches of green beans. The 2017 Huakui contained some particularly small-sized varieties, and these were precisely the main source of Huakui’s aroma. Therefore, Huakui that contains the old-version small-bean Huakui variety is what we also call small-bean Huakui. The beans of Huakui 4.0 were generally on the small side, which is also why it performed better than the previous two years.

The processing method of Huakui coffee beans

No matter which year’s Huakui it is, the Buku/Bugu processing station uses the natural processing method. Because it is natural, when Front Street cups the new-season Huakui each year, even if there are flavor differences, the full berry-juice-like sensation, the fermented feeling of ripe fruit, and the medium to pronounced sweetness all come through consistently. This is also one reason Front Street especially likes Huakui.

How does the 2021 harvest Huakui 5.0 perform in flavor?

The first batch of Huakui 5.0 arrived at port in April this year. As loyal fans of Huakui, Front Street arranged roasting immediately upon receiving the beans and did a cupping comparison with the existing small-bean Huakui.

The cupping was arranged within 8 to 24 hours after sample roasting. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) baristas usually use a 200 ml ceramic cupping bowl, with a water temperature of 94°C, grind size controlled so that 70%-75% passes through a No. 20 standard sieve (0.85 mm), and a coffee-to-water ratio of 11.1 grams of ground coffee to 200 milliliters of hot water, that is, 1:18.18. In this way, the extraction concentration falls right within the golden cup range of 1.15%-1.35%, with a steep time of 4 minutes.

The flavor of small-bean Huakui is strawberry cream, citrus, passion fruit, and fermented wine aroma; Huakui 5.0 shows berry, citrus, honey, mango, and floral notes. Indeed, small-bean Huakui is relatively close in flavor to the 2017 champion Huakui, especially that strawberry cream note, which was no longer tasted in the Huakui X.0 series from 2018 to 2021.

How should Huakui coffee beans be brewed?

In order to fully extract Huakui’s rich layers, Front Street chooses a higher water temperature with a finer grind, but to avoid over-extraction at high temperature, it uses a dripper with a relatively fast flow rate, such as the V60. The V60 is a 60-degree cone, and the conical angle allows the coffee grounds to gather together. When pouring, the water flow also automatically converges toward the center, ensuring enough contact time between water and coffee grounds, thereby extracting a suitable coffee liquid. In addition, the ribs on the inner wall of the V60 form a clockwise spiral extending from the bottom to the top, leaving enough gap between the filter paper and the dripper so that water flows more easily. Combined with the large hole at the bottom, the overall flow rate is faster than that of many drippers.

Dripper: V60#01

Water temperature: 90-91°C

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

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

Front Street brewing method: three-stage extraction. First use 30 grams of water to bloom for 30 seconds, then pour in a small stream in circles up to 125 grams as the first stage, and when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225 grams and stop. When the water level drops again and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. The total extraction time is about 2 minutes (timing starts at the beginning of the bloom).

Small-bean Huakui: the sweet aroma of berries, cream strawberry, passion fruit, rich fruity sweetness, and a full body.

Huakui 5.0: floral notes, the sweet-and-sour sensation of berries, citrus, and plum, mango juice, honey, with a finish carrying the sweetness of black tea.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

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