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The Story of Ethiopia's Guji Coffee

When it comes to coffee beans from Ethiopia's Guji region, most people immediately think of Guanke coffee beans. The year 2022 marks the 6th anniversary of Guanke coffee beans' rise to fame, which means this year's new harvest Guanke coffee beans are batch 6.0. Due to shipping container shortages this year, the first batch of Guanke 6.0, originally scheduled for export in March, was delayed in departing from Ethiopia's capital. Air freight batches were also slowed at port customs due to worsening COVID-19 situation in Shanghai. It wasn't until mid-April that the first Guanke 6.0 batch was rerouted to Guangzhou port and gradually distributed.

FrontStreet Coffee didn't receive the Guanke 6.0 batch coffee beans until late May. However, upon opening the burlap sacks, FrontStreet Coffee's barista observed that this year's Guanke 6.0 coffee beans had a relatively high defect rate, so they provided feedback to Hongshun, the importer of Guanke green coffee beans. Besides FrontStreet Coffee, many roasters also reported similar issues. Consequently, in mid-June this year, an explanation was published on the official WeChat public account regarding the high defect rate of Guanke 6.0, stating that the high defect rate was caused by lack of rainfall during the early stages of coffee cherry development in late 2021.

However, to ensure everyone can enjoy freshly roasted coffee beans with more stable quality, FrontStreet Coffee will not sell coffee beans marked as batch 6.0 this year. Instead, they will uniformly use new harvest natural-processed Guanke coffee beans also produced from the Buku Abel processing plant in Guji's Hambella region, also imported by Hongshun Company.

Not Guanke 6.0, But Still Guanke?

Are coffee beans that aren't Guanke 6.0 still Guanke? Of course! The coffee beans that won the 2017 TOH natural processing category weren't originally called Guanke either. They were naturally processed Ethiopian heirloom variety coffee beans from DW Company's Buku Abel processing plant. In the same year, domestic baristas used this champion bean to "defeat" competitors using Geisha coffee beans, drawing attention from Chinese coffee professionals. Hongshun Coffee Company also began importing natural-processed coffee beans from DW Company's Hambella region that year. To make this coffee bean easier to remember, it was named Guanke. Simply put, this coffee bean is only called Guanke in China, while internationally, it's still referred to as Hambella natural-processed Ethiopian heirloom variety coffee beans.

Ethiopia's Coffee Diversity

As the birthplace of coffee varieties, Ethiopia has an incredible diversity of coffee beans. It's like a natural gene bank for Arabica coffee. On one hand, there are numerous varieties that are difficult to identify and classify. On the other hand, the Ethiopian government, considering protection, is unwilling to disclose information about these varieties, so they are collectively referred to as Ethiopian heirloom varieties.

Coffee beans, as agricultural products, change in quality each year due to many natural factors, which is why X.0 is used to distinguish new harvest seasons. After winning the championship in 2017, DW Company further increased the number of processing plants in the core Dimtu area of Hambella, including "Buku Abel," "Buku Saysay," "Haro Soresa," and "Tirtiro Goye," with an annual coffee production of about 1,100 tons. In terms of growing region and processing plants, only those from the "Buku Abel" processing plant's processing area cover the small origin that originally produced the natural-processed coffee bean "Guanke."

The Evolution of Guanke

Strictly speaking, when new harvest Hambella region coffee beans are released each year, only the natural-processed Ethiopian heirloom variety coffee beans from the Buku Abel processing plant can be called "Guanke X.0." When FrontStreet Coffee cupped each new harvest season's Guanke coffee beans, they found that the overall body and aftertaste of later Guanke X.0 coffee beans couldn't match those of the 2017 Guanke. However, in 2018 and 2019, among some smaller coffee beans from Hambella's Buku processing plant, they tasted flavors similar to the 2017 Guanke coffee beans.

By comparing different batches of Guanke, FrontStreet Coffee realized that the main source of the 2017 Guanke's aroma was some particularly small bean varieties within the Guanke coffee beans. These small coffee beans weren't abundant - in ten sacks of Guanke coffee X.0 beans, there were several bags containing these small beans. After cupping in 2018 and 2019, FrontStreet Coffee confirmed that the main aroma source of Guanke coffee beans came from these small Guanke beans and shared this information with the green bean supplier. Consequently, starting in 2020, Guanke was split into two types: 4.0 and Small Bean Guanke. Guanke X.0 became one series, while Small Bean Guanke became another series.

Roasting and Brewing

To express the full juice-like characteristics of its origin's Guanke coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's roaster adopted a light roast. Through cupping comparisons, this year's new harvest Guanke coffee beans feature rich, full berry acidity and sweetness, tropical fruit-like fermentation aromas, and black tea-like aftertaste. When you purchase FrontStreet Coffee's Guanke coffee beans, you'll receive freshly roasted coffee beans within 5 days of the roasting date.

Brewing Guanke coffee beans doesn't require overly complex extraction methods. Simply using a three-stage extraction method with a versatile V60 dripper, medium-fine grind size (75% passing through China's No. 20 standard sieve), and 90°C water temperature at a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio will yield an excellent cup of Guanke coffee!

Once everything is ready, start timing. First pour to 30g of water and let it bloom for 30 seconds. Then start the second pour with a small circular water flow to 125g. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before pouring again. Continue with a small circular water flow to 225g. After complete dripping, the total extraction time should be around 2 minutes 20 seconds to 2 minutes 30 seconds.

FrontStreet Coffee's new harvest Guanke coffee bean flavor notes: passion fruit, fermented wine aroma, strawberry, jackfruit, black tea.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473