Flavor Characteristics, Growing Region, and Brewing Parameters for Ethiopia Sidamo Natural Process "Horse Champion" Guji Premium Coffee Beans

The Floral Champion processing station sits in Buku Abel village at 2200 meters. From the very beginning, its founders chose the site for its privileged "family environment"—fertile, humus-rich red-brown soil—and planted shade-providing Enset trees alongside the coffee. This gives the trees enough sunlight to develop deep flavor without draining excessive nutrients, so more of the essence stays in the cherries. During the harvest and processing season (December-January), the unique terroir and climate combine to create Floral Champion's distinctive character. Natural drying only begins once the sugar content of the harvested red cherries measures above 30. For the first two days of drying, the cherries' humidity is carefully maintained so their fruit sugars can ferment thoroughly, while the high altitude lets nighttime temperatures at the station fall to around 12 degrees Celsius—cool enough to prevent the over-fermented odors that heat invites. When midday temperatures climb, shade covers go up promptly to protect the cherries from sunburn. Only fully red, completely mature cherries are selected, all hand-picked, and dried on African raised beds with a deliberately limited layer thickness and continuous turning every 24 hours—ensuring even drying and ventilation and far more precise control over fermentation.

At night, thick plastic sheeting is wrapped over the beds to guard against sudden rainfall, letting the cherries ferment and dehydrate at lower temperatures. After 18 days of natural processing, once the moisture content of the green beans drops to around 13%, the drying stops. The beans are packed in jute bags and stored in warehouses held at 12-22 degrees Celsius and 40-50% humidity for about 50 days of resting and further dehydration. When green bean moisture reaches around 10%, they are trucked to the processing station for hulling, screening, and sale.

Coffee Origin Information

Coffee Producing Country: 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 sun-dried (African drying beds)

Ethiopian Sidamo Shakisso Natural

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Guji Zone

Altitude: 2250-2350 meters

Processing Method: Natural

Variety: Local heirloom varieties

Producer: Local smallholder farmers

Flavor Notes: Passion fruit, rose floral aroma, strawberry jam

Sidamo's coffee flavors are extraordinarily diverse: different soils, regional microclimates, and countless native varieties give the coffee of each town and district its own unmistakable character. The Sidamo region lies in southern Ethiopia, where agriculture dominates and the coffee lands ring the Great Rift Valley.

Hambella (often spelled "Hambela") lies within Guji, Ethiopia's largest coffee-producing region, administratively part of the Oromia Regional State. To the west, Hambella faces Yirgacheffe's Kochere across mountains, with a 3200-meter-high, 30-kilometer-wide highland barrier standing between the two. To the southeast, east, and north it borders Guji's Shakiso, Uraga, and Kerche sub-regions respectively, making it the highest-altitude coffee sub-region in Ethiopia (Harrar remains the highest of Ethiopia's main producing regions).

Today there are about 20 processing stations of various sizes across Hambella. DW Imports runs four estate processing stations in Hambella's core Dimtu area—"Buku Abel," "Buku SaySay," "Haro Soresa," and "Tirtiro Goye"—with an annual coffee output of roughly 1100 tons.

Among all these estates and stations, only the naturally processed coffee from the "Buku Abel" estate and processing station earns the name "Floral Champion."

Brewing Method

Pour-over for Floral Champion: 15g of coffee, medium-fine grind (setting 3.5 on the Fuji Royal ghost burr grinder), V60 dripper, water temperature 91-93°C. Pour 30g of water first and bloom for 27 seconds, then pour to 105g and stop. Once the water level drops to half, continue pouring slowly up to 225g. Skip the tail section of the brew. Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Awards and Achievements

Cupping Notes: Passion fruit, rose florals, strawberry jam, berry sweetness and acidity, 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

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, and that heritage shows in its countless native varieties—no other origin offers coffee lovers so much to explore. The FrontStreet Coffee natural Floral Champion (Huakui) comes from the Hambella district of Guji in Sidamo, where the entire farm spans 200 hectares and the coffee is processed by traditional natural methods. To keep the fruit from molding or picking up earthy taints while drying, workers spread the ripe cherries on raised beds for 21 days, turning them constantly for even exposure, and hand-sorting out defective or moldy beans every three to five days. Once the skin has dried hard, the husks are removed by machine, and the green beans face one final hand-sorting before release.

Because the beans dry in full contact with their fruit and skin, a medium-light roast unlocks a gentle fermented wine note, florals, citrus, and mango—the cup turns noticeably richer and more complex, with honeyed sweetness, a cocoa undertone, a whisper of spice, and a thick, lasting body and finish.

If you would like a gentler introduction to Ethiopia first, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is the classic starting point: clear jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity, light and elegant on the palate with a tea-like finish—like a crisp, clean lemon tea. It shows you the washed side of the spectrum before you dive into the lush fruit of the Floral Champion natural.