What makes Guji Hambela sun-dried coffee stand out?

Ethiopia Guji Hambela natural beans won the TOH competition in 2017 and have drawn attention since. Brewed as black coffee, they open with almond and caramel sweetness at high temperatures, then shift toward blackcurrant-like sweet-and-sour notes as the cup cools, finishing with honey-like sweetness.

The Guji Hambela area sits within the wider Sidamo specialty region, where varied soil, microclimates, and numerous native varieties give each small lot its own character. Green coffee bean quality here depends on careful sorting and drying at the processing station, which supports the layered fruit profile.

Huakui coffee is undoubtedly one of the most high-profile Ethiopian natural beans in the specialty coffee world in recent years. Since winning the TOH competition in 2017, this coffee from the Guji Hambela region has captivated countless palates with its intense berry aroma and creamy texture. When brewed as black coffee, it presents the sweet aroma of almond and caramel at high temperatures, and as the temperature drops, blackcurrant-like sweet-and-sour flavors gradually unfold, with a honey-like lingering sweetness in the finish. Since its launch on the Front Street Coffee Tmall flagship store, this coffee bean has consistently remained on the bestseller list. This article will take you through the region's background, the processing station's story, variety characteristics, and roasting and brewing parameters to fully understand the unique qualities of Huakui coffee.

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Ethiopia's natural Huakui coffee has long enjoyed a stellar reputation in the coffee community. When brewed as black coffee, it is not only full of fruity notes but also remarkably layered—at high temperatures it releases aromas of almond and caramel, and as the temperature gradually drops, the sweet-and-sour berry notes slowly unfold, like drinking a glass of blackcurrant juice, with a honey-like lingering sweetness in the finish. Since its launch, this bean has won the favor of a large number of enthusiasts and is a hot-selling single-origin item on the Front Street Tmall flagship store. Even so, many people remain curious about it. Today, Front Street will take a closer look at this coffee to see what makes it so exceptional.

First, let's get to know the Sidamo coffee region

Sidamo is one of Ethiopia's specialty coffee regions, located in the south of the country, adjacent to another well-known specialty region, Yirgacheffe. The coffee flavors of this region are quite diverse, because different areas have their own soil compositions, microclimates, and a huge number of native coffee varieties, making the coffee produced in each small area show significant differences and individuality.

After coming into contact with coffee beans from different Sidamo regions, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) found that they generally have bright fruit acidity and intense aromas, making them very suitable for enthusiasts who prefer strong flavors but do not want an overly heavy mouthfeel, achieving a good balance between aroma and body. The Huakui coffee beans discussed in this article come from the Hambela sub-region of the Guji area in Sidamo. This region came into the public eye in 2017 precisely because of Huakui coffee beans winning an award. Next, let's learn about the Hambela region.

Guji coffee region

The Guji region originally belonged to Sidamo, but in 2010 it was designated as an independent region by the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). It is located southeast of Yirgacheffe, with complex and varied terrain, including towering mountains, valleys, and plains. The soil in this area is nutrient-rich black soil (Vertisol), nearly two meters deep, with an average altitude of over 1,800 meters. The special geographical conditions create significant day-night temperature differences, providing the local area with all the terroir advantages needed to produce high-quality specialty coffee.

The most famous coffee bean in the Guji region is none other than Huakui. At the 2017 TOH (Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest Competition), it won the championship with its outstanding strawberry-cream flavor, truly deserving the title of "Huakui."

Before "Huakui coffee" truly became "Huakui," it was actually an award-winning competition-grade bean from Ethiopia. In February 2017, when Ethiopian DW Coffee Company participated in the TOH green bean competition organized by the African Fine Coffees Association, it submitted a natural coffee bean from the Buku Abel processing station in Hambela, Sidamo. With its intense berry aroma and creamy texture, it won the championship in the natural category that year.

In the same year, this champion batch was noticed by a green bean trader in Beijing. Because of its champion status, it was launched on the domestic market under the name "Huakui," meaning "the chief of a hundred flowers, outshining all others." Subsequently, this Huakui was used as a competition bean by a contestant in the Coffee Brewing Competition (China region), defeating opponents using Geisha and winning the runner-up title that year—this was Huakui's first "rise to fame" in China. As the competition's popularity continued to climb, this traditional natural bean from the Buku Abel processing station smoothly "debuted," and with its affordable price and appealing flavor, it quickly became recognized in the community as a high-quality Ethiopian coffee.

The Buku processing station is located in Buku Abel village at an altitude of 2,200 meters. From the very beginning of cultivation, it chose to plant in nutrient-rich red-brown soil and provided shade for the trees, allowing Huakui to fully receive sunlight while generating rich aromas without consuming too many nutrients, thereby retaining more essence within the coffee cherries. During the harvest and processing season (December to January), the unique growing environment and natural climate together create Huakui's signature flavor.

The Buku processing station only purchases red cherries with a sugar content of 30 or above before starting natural processing. In the first two days of natural processing, the humidity of the red cherries must be maintained to allow the fruit sugars to fully initiate fermentation. At the same time, the high-altitude location allows the processing station's nighttime temperature to drop to around 12 degrees Celsius, preventing over-fermentation odors caused by excessively high temperatures. When the midday temperature is higher, shade is promptly provided to prevent the red cherries from sunburn.

The coffee farmers only select fully red cherries—that is, fully ripe coffee cherries—picked entirely by hand, dried on African raised beds with limited fruit layer thickness, and turned at regular intervals 24 hours a day to ensure even sun exposure and ventilation, allowing more precise control of the fermentation degree. Front Street believes that precisely because Huakui coffee beans use fully ripe, high-sugar coffee cherries, after natural drying, the sugars in the pulp and mucilage are absorbed by the coffee beans, so Huakui's sweetness is more prominent than coffee beans from other Sidamo regions.

In fact, before this bean was called "Huakui," it had only one English name, "Hambella." Ultimately, what we call "Huakui coffee" is a traditional natural G1 coffee bean from the Hambela region, and the "Buku Abel" processing station is its more precise traceability information, located in Dimtu town.

After Huakui rose to fame, to meet the surge in market demand, DW Company added up to 5 independent coffee green bean drying processing stations in Hambella Wamena Wereda, all located within the core production area of Dimtu town. In addition to the original Buku Abel, four other small villages—Buku Saysay, Haro Soresa, Tirtiro Goye, and Seke Bokosa—also joined the production of natural coffee beans. It is understood that at this point, DW Company's annual production of "Huakui" had reached tens of millions of tons.

Since the 2018 harvest season, Huakui (natural G1 coffee beans) from the same growing region and the same processing station has shown some changes in taste. Front Street found through cupping at the time that although the 2018 and 2019 Huakui still had flavors similar to the 2017 Huakui, they were not as good as the "first-generation Huakui" in terms of body, aftertaste, and other mouthfeel aspects.

Therefore, in order to continue selling this natural coffee from Hambela while making some distinction from the original version, domestic green bean trading companies created an X.0 suffix for each subsequent year's batch based on calculations after 2017. For example, the 2018 batch was called "Huakui 2.0," the 2019 harvest was called "Huakui 3.0 and 3.1"... Last year's release was "Huakui 7.0," and so on. In this way, we can identify which year's batch the Huakui we bought belongs to through this suffix.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Ethiopia Huakui Coffee Beans

Region: Guji Hambela

Processing Station: Buku Able

Altitude: 2,350 meters

Variety: Ethiopian native varieties

Processing Method: Natural processing

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Green Bean Analysis

Ethiopian native variety coffee beans appear to vary in size. This is because Ethiopia has so many varieties—it is like a natural gene bank of Arabica. On one hand, the variety is so diverse that identification and classification are difficult; on the other hand, the Ethiopian government, for protection reasons, is unwilling to disclose information about these varieties, so they are collectively called Heirloom native varieties. Due to mixed planting and mixed harvesting, this is also the main reason Ethiopian beans appear to vary in size. After receiving the green beans, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) noticed that the beans of the new harvest season had a relatively high moisture content, so the roaster extended the dehydration time to ensure even heating of the bean surface and core. In order to express this bean's sweetness, acidity, and floral-fruity aroma, we used a medium-light roast level.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Roasting Record

Yangjia 800N, charge weight 480g: charged at 175 degrees Celsius, airflow opened to 3, heat power 120. When raised to 140 degrees, airflow opened to 4. Roasted to 6'00'', temperature 151.7 degrees, bean surface turned yellow, grassy smell completely disappeared, dehydration complete. When the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and dark patches, and the bread-like smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, this can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of the first crack. At 9'50'', first crack begins, airflow fully open, heat reduced to 80 at 188 degrees, first crack development time 1'40'', dropped at 196 degrees.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Cupping Report

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) conducts cupping within 8-24 hours after roasting the sample coffee beans. The cupping bowls generally used by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) staff are 200ml ceramic bowls marked with 150ml and 200ml graduation lines. According to SCAA standards, the water TDS is around 150ppm. Too low TDS can easily cause over-extraction, while too high TDS affects the taste and easily causes under-extraction. The water temperature used for cupping is 94 degrees Celsius. The grind size is controlled so that the passing rate through a No. 20 standard sieve (0.85mm) is 70%-75%. Ratio: 11 grams of coffee grounds plus 200 milliliters of hot water, i.e., 1:18.18, so that the extracted concentration falls exactly within the Golden Cup range of 1.15%-1.35%, with a steeping time of 4 minutes.

Dry aroma: citrus, berry

Wet aroma: blackcurrant, rose

Palate: almond, strawberry, blackcurrant, fermented note, lingering sweetness

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Brewing Tips

Dripper: V60 #01

Water temperature: 90-91 degrees

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: medium-fine grind / fine sugar size (sifted through No. 20 sieve to 77%)

Front Street brewing method: First rinse the filter paper and preheat the dripper and carafe. Use 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour in a small stream in a circular motion until reaching 125 grams for a split pour. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until reaching 225 grams and stop. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. (Timing starts from the beginning of the bloom.) Total extraction time is 2 minutes 05 seconds.

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