Sidamo Flower Queen Pour-Over Brewing Data | How to Brew Sidamo Flower Queen Coffee

Pour-Over Brewing Guide

For this coffee, use 15 g ground to a medium-fine consistency (Fuji ghost burr grinder, setting 3.5) with a V60 dripper, and water at 91-93°C. First pour 30 g of water and let it bloom for 27 seconds. Continue pouring to 105 g, then pause and wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to about halfway before pouring again. Pour slowly until you reach a total of 225 g. Avoid the final tail. The water-to-coffee ratio is 1:15, with a total extraction time of 2:00.

Cupping Notes

Passion fruit, rose floral aroma, strawberry jam, berry sweetness and acidity, peach flesh, and a black tea finish.

Awards and Recognition

2016/2017 Season:
Winner of the Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest Competition
Champion of the 2016/2017 Ethiopia Coffee Competition

2017:
Second place, Regional Africa Taste of Harvest Competition
Runner-up in the 2017 Africa Coffee Competition

Origin and Processing

The "Hua Kui" processing station sits in Buku Abel village at an altitude of 2,200 meters. From the start, it was chosen for its noble "family environment" — rich, humus-filled reddish-brown soil and shade from "Enset" trees. This lets Hua Kui receive plenty of sunlight and develop rich flavors without burning through nutrients, so more of the cherry's essential compounds stay intact.

During the harvest and processing season (December-January), this unique growing environment and natural climate create Hua Kui's distinctive flavor. The natural drying process begins only once the Brix sugar content of the harvested red cherries reaches 30 or above. For the first two days of natural processing, the red cherries are kept at the proper humidity so their fruit sugars can ferment thoroughly.

At the same time, the high altitude lets the processing station's nighttime temperature fall to around 12°C, preventing the over-fermentation that excessive heat can cause. At midday, when temperatures climb, shade is provided promptly to keep the cherries from sun-scalding. Only fully red, completely ripe cherries are selected, all hand-picked and dried on African raised beds. The layer of cherries is kept thin and turned continuously every 24 hours to ensure even drying and ventilation, allowing precise control over the degree of fermentation.

At night, thick plastic sheets are draped over the cherries to guard against sudden rain, letting them ferment and dehydrate at relatively low temperatures. After 18 days of natural processing, when the moisture content of the green beans drops to around 13%, the natural drying stops. The beans are then packed in jute bags and stored under warehouse conditions of 12-22°C and 40-50% humidity for about 50 days of resting and further dehydration. When the green coffee reaches about 10% moisture, it is shipped to the processing plant for hulling and screening before sale.

Coffee Details

Coffee Origin: Africa, Ethiopia
Coffee Estate: Buku Abel estate, Dimtu, Hambella Wamena, Guji
Coffee Variety: Heirloom, Ethiopian native varieties
Production Altitude: 2,200-2,350 meters
Quality Grade: G1
Processing Method: Natural (African raised beds)

Product Information:
Manufacturer: Coffee Workshop
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 227 g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast Level: Light roast
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Ethiopia

Ethiopian Sidamo Shakisso Natural

Country: Ethiopia
Region: Guji Zone
Altitude: 2,200-2,350 meters
Processing Method: Natural
Variety: Local heirloom varieties
Producer: Local small farmers
Flavor Profile: Passion fruit, rose floral aroma, strawberry jam

Regional Characteristics

Sidamo's coffee flavors are incredibly diverse because of different soil compositions, regional microclimates, and countless native varieties, so production from each town has its own distinct character. The Sidamo growing region lies in southern Ethiopia, where agriculture dominates the local economy and coffee areas sit around the Great Rift Valley of East Africa.

Hambella (generally translated as "Hanbela") lies within Guji, Ethiopia's largest coffee-producing region, and administratively belongs to the Oromia Regional State. On its western side, Hambella faces Yirgacheffe's Kochore across mountainous terrain, with the two areas separated by highlands reaching 3,200 meters in altitude and about 30 kilometers in width. To the southeast, north, and south it borders Guji's Shakiso, Uraga, and Kercha sub-regions respectively. It is Ethiopia's highest-altitude coffee sub-region (Harrar is the country's highest-altitude main coffee region).

Today there are roughly 20 processing stations of various scales in the Hambella region. DW Company has four estate processing stations in Hambella's core Dimtu area — "Buku Abel," "Buku Saysay," "Haro Soresa," and "Tirtiro Goye" — producing about 1,100 tons of coffee a year.

Among all these estates and stations, only the natural-processed coffee from the "Buku Abel" estate and processing station is called "Hua Kui."

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Hua Kui's natural, raised-bed character is one of Ethiopia's most vivid expressions, and FrontStreet Coffee's Hamasho shows another side of the same country. From the Hamasho processing station, best known for the JARC's 74-series disease-resistant varieties, the 74158 variety has smallish beans and a striking floral, fruity aroma: perfume-like lemon, strawberry, and star fruit on the nose, a bright sweet attack of strawberry, star fruit, and green grape, and gentle florals emerging afterward.

If you like the strawberry-jam and rose notes here, FrontStreet's Natural Red Cherry Yirgacheffe is another natural-flow Ethiopian. Only fully ripe red cherries are selected and dried on raised beds, giving it elegant florals and bright acidity alongside pronounced tropical fruit, a full fermented character, and sweetness.

For a wilder, forest-grown contrast, FrontStreet's Kafa Forest coffee comes from trees grown wild at 1,400-2,100 meters under shade. Roasted medium-light, it shows clear white florals on the grind, bright lemon acidity on entry, sweet orange and bergamot, and a finish of melon and nut with a green-tea-like body.