Ethiopia Sidamo Natural Sun-Dried Flower Queen Guji Premium Coffee Beans Grind Size Roast Level Processing Method

Awards

Cupping Notes: Passion fruit, rose floral aroma, strawberry jam, berry sweet-and-sour, peach flesh, black tea finish

2016/2017

Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest Competition - Champion

2016/2017 Harvest Season Ethiopia Coffee Competition - Champion

2017 Regional Africa Taste of Harvest Competition - Runner-up

2017 Africa Coffee Competition - Runner-up

Processing Details

The Huakui processing station is located in Buku Abel village at an altitude of 2200 meters. During the harvest and processing season (December-January), its unique growing environment and natural climate create Huakui's distinctive flavor profile. Natural processing only begins once the sugar content of the harvested red cherries reaches above 30. For the first two days of drying, moisture is maintained so the fruit sugars can ferment fully. Meanwhile, the high altitude lets nighttime temperatures at the station drop to around 12°C, preventing the over-fermentation odors that excess heat can cause; when midday temperatures climb, the cherries are promptly shaded to prevent sun damage.

At night, thick plastic sheets are wrapped over the cherries to guard against sudden rainfall, letting them ferment and dehydrate at lower temperatures. After 18 days of natural processing, when the moisture of the green coffee drops to around 13%, drying stops. The beans are then placed in jute bags and rested under natural conditions at 12-22°C and 40-50% humidity for about 50 days to rest and dehydrate further. Once green coffee moisture reaches around 10%, the beans are transported to the station for hulling, screening, and sale.

Coffee Origin Information

Coffee Origin: Africa, Ethiopia

Coffee Estate: Guji, Hambella Wamena region, Dimtu city, Buku Abel estate

Coffee Variety: Heirloom, Ethiopian native varieties

Production Altitude: 2250-2350m

Quality Grade: G1

Processing Method: Natural (African drying beds)

Ethiopian Sidamo Shakisso Natural

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Guji Zone

Altitude: 2250-2350m

Processing Method: Natural

Variety: Local heirloom varieties

Producer: Local smallholder farmers

Flavor: Passion fruit, rose floral aroma, strawberry jam

Sidamo Coffee Characteristics

Sidamo's coffee flavors are extremely diverse thanks to different soil compositions, regional microclimates, and countless native varieties, which produce distinct differences and characteristics from one town area to the next. The Sidamo coffee region lies in southern Ethiopia, where agriculture dominates the local industry and the coffee-growing areas are situated around the Great Rift Valley.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

This award-winning Guji lot is a textbook natural-process Ethiopian, and FrontStreet Coffee's Hambella "Huakui" natural from Sidamo's Guji zone comes from the same tradition: a 200-hectare farm that dries whole cherries on raised beds for 21 days, turning them constantly for even drying and hand-removing moldy or defective beans every 3-5 days, then hulling once the dried husk hardens and doing one final hand sort before shipment.

Roasted medium-light, that careful processing shows up as faint fermented winey notes, florals, citrus, and mango, with honeyed sweetness, a cocoa undertone with a touch of spice, thick body, and a long finish - much like the passion fruit, rose, and strawberry jam character of this Buku Abel lot.

If you prefer a cleaner profile, FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe offers clear jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity with a light, tea-like body, while the natural Red Cherry Project Yirgacheffe (peach, cocoa, honey, lemon) is another approachable natural - both brewed comfortably with the same medium-light, pour-over treatment.