Sidamo Guji Coffee Flavor Characteristics Ethiopian Guji Coffee Bean Pour-over Brewing Parameters Introduction

The new harvest season Guifei Coffee 5.0 coffee beans arrived at port in 2021, and FrontStreet Coffee has been paying close attention to this. These new harvest season Guifei 5.0 coffee beans were safely delivered to FrontStreet Coffee as scheduled in April 2021.

As soon as the beans arrived, FrontStreet Coffee immediately began roasting and cupping them. Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee also conducted a brewing comparison between Guifei 5.0 coffee beans and their "beloved" small-grain Guifei coffee beans.

Comparison Between Small-Grain Guifei and Guifei 5.0 Coffee Beans

First, let's observe the comparison photos of the raw and roasted beans between small-grain Guifei coffee beans and Guifei 5.0 coffee beans.

Both are from the 2021 new harvest season, and the small-grain Guifei coffee beans are noticeably smaller than Guifei 5.0 coffee beans. The proportion of small-grain coffee beans is significantly higher than in Guifei 5.0 coffee beans.

After receiving the Guifei 5.0 coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee roasted them and conducted a cupping comparison with the small-grain Guifei coffee beans. Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee discovered that the small-grain Guifei coffee beans had a deeper and richer strawberry aroma as well as berry sweetness, while the 2021 Guifei 5.0 coffee beans exhibited more vibrant berry acidity and brighter acidity.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Notes: Guifei 5.0 vs. Small-Grain Guifei

Small-Grain Guifei: Creamy strawberry, citrus, passion fruit, fermented wine aroma

Guifei 5.0: Berries, citrus, honey, mango, floral notes

From the cupping perspective, the small-grain Guifei coffee beans' flavor profile is closer to the 2017 Guifei coffee beans, while Guifei 5.0 coffee beans lean towards the Guji region's flavor profile (berry acidity, floral notes, juice-like).

FrontStreet Coffee Pour-over Notes: Guifei 5.0 vs. Small-Grain Guifei

Both coffee beans were brewed using the following recipe:

Dripper: V60 #01
Water Temperature: 90-91℃
Dose: 15g
Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Medium-fine (80% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

Brewing Method: Three-stage extraction. Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, continue pouring with small circular motion to 125g for the first stage, when the water level drops to just above the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. Remove the dripper when the water level drops to just above the coffee bed (timing starts from bloom). Total extraction time: 2'00".

Small-Grain Guifei Coffee Bean Flavor:

Sweet and fragrant berry aroma, creamy strawberry, passion fruit, rich fruit sweetness, full-bodied texture.

Guifei 5.0 Coffee Bean Flavor:

Floral notes, berries, citrus, plum's sweet and sour notes, mango juice, honey, with a sweet black tea aftertaste.

The Origin and Meaning of Guifei Coffee

In traditional Chinese culture, the top three scholars in ancient imperial examinations were called Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua, which are Chinese terms. What many people don't know is that this Guifei coffee from the Sidamo Guji region also originates from Chinese terminology. If you observe carefully, you'll notice that the Chinese and English names of this "Guifei" coffee bean don't correspond - it's called "Guifei" in Chinese, but more often "Hambella" in English, which directly translates to "Hambella." FrontStreet Coffee will briefly explain the origin of the Guifei coffee name.

Guifei, literally speaking, means "the first among flowers." When Chinese green coffee buyers first encountered the Hambella Guifei from the Guji region of Sidamo, they were deeply captivated by this Guifei coffee's vanilla cream flavor. They believed that as long as the processing techniques for this Guifei coffee bean continued to improve, it had the potential to become the next Geisha. Therefore, Chinese green coffee buyers bestowed the title "Guifei" on this natural-processed coffee from the Guji region, expressing high hopes for it.

Guifei's unique flavor is inseparable from its natural processing method. According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, coffee farmers harvest coffee fruits from December to January each year, and the red coffee cherries must have a sugar content above 30% to undergo natural processing. The natural process is very meticulous - for the first two days, it's essential to maintain the moisture of the red cherries to allow their fructose to fully undergo fermentation. When the temperature is high at noon, timely shading is necessary to prevent the red cherries from sunburn, which would be detrimental to fermentation. Then at night, to prevent sudden rain, thick plastic is used for wrapping.

The fermentation and dehydration of red coffee cherries require relatively low temperatures. After reaching the eighteenth day of natural processing, the moisture content of the green coffee beans drops to around 13%, then the natural processing stops, and they are placed in burlap bags in the warehouse. On this basis, they continue to undergo about fifty days of bean resting and further dehydration. When the moisture content of the green coffee beans reaches about 11%, they are transported to the processing plant for subsequent processing such as hulling.

The Evolution of Guifei Versions

Have you noticed that sometimes the Guifei coffee launched by FrontStreet Coffee has numbers added after the name, such as Guifei 2.0, Guifei 3.0, Guifei 3.1, and Guifei 4.0. You might wonder why Guifei has so many versions. This is because only those produced by the Buku Abel processing plant in Guji Hambella are truly authentic Guifei, while coffee beans from other processing plants are referred to by their version numbers.

Additionally, most of the varieties in these Guifei coffees are Ethiopian local landrace varieties. Some friends might not be familiar with what Ethiopian landrace varieties are. FrontStreet Coffee will give you a brief introduction. Because Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia can be considered a coffee gene bank with extremely numerous coffee varieties. Combined with Ethiopia's local economic conditions not supporting large-scale verification of coffee varieties, and on the other hand, the Ethiopian government's unwillingness to disclose information to protect native coffee variety data, these unnamed coffee varieties are called Ethiopian local landrace varieties.

However, FrontStreet Coffee has also cupped several of these Guifei versions and found that Guifei 3.1's flavor differs significantly from the original Guifei, instead being closer to the flavor of Panama La Esmeralda's Geisha. Meanwhile, Guifei 4.0's flavor is very close to the original Guifei, but FrontStreet Coffee's cupping revealed that its aftertaste and body still don't compare to the original Guifei.

Annual Flavor Variations

Guifei's flavor changes every year, mainly because coffee is essentially an agricultural product, and it's impossible to grow coffee with the same flavor every year since agricultural products are easily affected by uncertain factors such as climate and rainfall. Therefore, it's very normal for coffee bean flavors to vary each year. This applies not only to the Guifei coffee variety but to every coffee that FrontStreet Coffee launches.

For example, natural-processed coffee beans from the same Sidamo region can vary significantly. Take the Sidamo Arsi coffee launched by FrontStreet Coffee as an example - through cupping comparison of these two coffees' flavors, FrontStreet Coffee found that Arsi coffee has a more intense juice-like quality than Guifei coffee, while Guifei's flavor leans more toward tropical fruit characteristics, and Guifei's fermented notes are richer than Arsi's.

FrontStreet Coffee "Guifei" Coffee Bean Pour-over Flavor Descriptions

"Small-Grain Guifei" - Sweet and fragrant berry aroma, creamy strawberry, passion fruit, rich fruit sweetness, full-bodied texture

"Guifei G1" - Smooth, passion fruit, fermented wine aroma, jackfruit, strawberry

"Guifei 2.0" - Overall clean cup, more prominent berry aroma with nutty fragrance, richer mouthfeel

"Guifei 3.0" - Light strawberry jam, black tea sensation, short sweet aftertaste

"Guifei 3.1" - Floral notes, cream, tropical fruits, caramel, persistent sweet aftertaste

"Guifei 4.0" - Citrus acidity, full-bodied berry juice, lemon black tea sensation, persistent sweetness

"Guifei 5.0" - Floral notes, berries, citrus, plum's sweet and sour notes, mango juice, honey, with sweet black tea aftertaste

FrontStreet Coffee — 5 Sidamo Guifei Coffee Bean Roasting Records

FrontStreet Coffee: Guifei G1 Coffee Bean Roasting Profile

Coffee Name: Guifei G1, Roaster: Yangjia 800N, Batch Size: 480g

Charge beans at 160℃ damper 3.5, heat 160; Turnback point at 1'32"; Time 5'38''; At 154℃, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, dehydration complete. At 162℃, reduce heat to 140, damper 4; At this point, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, this can be defined as pre-first crack. Key point: Listen carefully for the sound of first crack. Enter first crack at 8'37'', temperature 187.9℃, reduce heat to 80, damper fully open; Drop at 198.1℃, development time 1'20''.

FrontStreet Coffee: Guifei 2.0 Coffee Bean Roasting Profile

Coffee Name: Guifei 2.0, Roaster: Yangjia 800N, Batch Size: 480g

Charge beans at 160℃ damper 3, heat 140; Turnback point at 1'32", time 5'51''; At 154℃, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, dehydration complete. At 152℃, reduce heat to 120, damper 4; At this point, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, this can be defined as pre-first crack. Key point: Listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'50'', temperature 177℃, reduce heat to 50, damper fully open; Drop at 193℃, development time 1'30''.

FrontStreet Coffee: Guifei 3.0 Coffee Bean Roasting Profile

Coffee Name: Guifei 3.0, Roaster: Yangjia 800N, Batch Size: 480g

Charge beans at 175℃ damper 3, heat 120; Turnback point at 1'32", yellow point time 6'00''; At 152℃, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, dehydration complete. At 116℃, increase heat to 140, damper 4; At this point, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, this can be defined as pre-first crack. Key point: Listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 10'00'', temperature 183.8℃, damper fully open; Drop at 195℃, development time 1'40''.

FrontStreet Coffee Guifei 3.1 Coffee Bean Roasting Profile

Coffee Name: Guifei 3.1, Roaster: Yangjia 800N, Batch Size: 480g

Charge beans at 190℃ damper 3, heat 120; Turnback point at 1'38", temperature 101.8℃; Yellow point time 5'44'', temperature 158℃, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, dehydration complete. When temperature reaches 150℃, reduce heat to 100, damper unchanged; At 7'38'', ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, this can be defined as pre-first crack. Key point: Listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 8'28'', temperature 184.1℃, reduce heat to 80, damper fully open; Drop at 192℃, development time 1'0''.

FrontStreet Coffee Guifei 4.0 Coffee Bean Roasting Profile

Coffee Name: Guifei 4.0, Roaster: Yangjia 800N, Batch Size: 480g

Charge beans at 175℃ damper 3, heat 120;
Turnback point at 1'32", temperature 96.2℃; At 3'00'', increase heat to 140, damper 4; Yellow point time 6'00'', temperature 151.7℃, at this point bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, dehydration complete. Observe ugly wrinkles and black spots beginning to appear on bean surface, can clearly smell toast aroma transitioning to coffee aroma. At this point, the coffee bean state can be defined as pre-first crack. Key point: Listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'50'', temperature 183℃; When temperature reaches 188℃, reduce heat to 80, damper fully open; Drop at 196℃, development time 1'40''.

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Important Notice :

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