Sidamo Flower Queen Coffee Name Characteristics Story Ethiopia Hambella Flower Queen Coffee Beans Meaning

Sidamo is located in southern Ethiopia, where the climate and geographical location are exceptionally suitable for the growth of coffee cherries. In Sidamo, renowned coffee varieties include Yirgacheffe and Guji coffee. According to FrontStreet Coffee, the ECX trading system has already separated Yirgacheffe and Guji from Sidamo. Sidamo coffee possesses rich fruit acidity and intense, fragrant aromas. FrontStreet Coffee believes that in terms of aroma, it surpasses even Yirgacheffe, making it perfect for coffee enthusiasts who love intense, rich flavors. It achieves perfect balance and harmony between aroma and mouthfeel, making a cup of FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo especially suitable for leisurely afternoons or dusks, enjoyed quietly while listening to classical light music.

Sidamo Coffee Region

As one of Ethiopia's specialty coffee regions, Sidamo is located in southern Ethiopia, bordering another specialty coffee region, Yirgacheffe. Sidamo is not just a coffee region but also represents a coffee brand. In 2006, Starbucks applied for a trademark for the name "Sidamo," which caused dissatisfaction in the Ethiopian coffee industry and led to countermeasures. This trademark dispute lasted for two years, ending with Starbucks withdrawing its trademark application. The two parties reconciled, and Starbucks continues to purchase and sell Sidamo coffee beans through cooperative partnerships.

The characteristic of Sidamo coffee is the extreme diversity of flavors produced in this region, because different areas have different soil compositions, regional microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties, creating distinct differences and characteristics in the coffee produced in each area. According to Ethiopia's administrative divisions, it can be divided into four levels: Region, Zone, Woreda, and Kebele, equivalent to China's provinces, cities, districts, and streets. The renowned Flower Champion coffee beans come from Guji City in Sidamo Province, further subdivisible to Shakisso Woreda's Hambella Kebele. Therefore, when people mention Hambella, seasoned coffee enthusiasts know they're referring to Flower Champion coffee, because this Hambella Flower Champion coffee bean is truly famous.

"Flower Champion" is acclaimed as the maiden of Hambella, and this coffee can be described as the top choice among countless varieties. FrontStreet Coffee knows that behind this name lies a story of coffee bean struggle. Before becoming "Flower Champion," this bean was just a simple "competition award-winning bean" in Ethiopia. Among Ethiopian coffees, it was still an inconspicuous variety, a nobody among the major producing regions of Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, Limu, and Harar.

However, in 2017, Ethiopian DW green coffee company sent this natural-processed green bean to participate in the TOH (The Taste Of Harvest) competition, where it captured the hearts of numerous international judges with its rich strawberry cream flavor, winning the championship title. Beijing Hongshun green coffee merchant introduced the same batch of coffee beans to the Chinese market. Due to its unique flavor, with slight improvements in green bean processing methods, it had the potential to become the next "Geisha," so it was given high hopes and named "Flower Champion," meaning the leader among all flowers.

In the same year's China region of the World Coffee Brewing Championship, contestant Li Jianfei used the same award-winning batch of Flower Champion coffee beans to crush many contestants using Geisha coffee beans, achieving an excellent second-place result that year. Today's Flower Champion coffee can be said to be one of the representatives of Ethiopian producing regions, deeply loved by coffee enthusiasts worldwide, further witnessing the development of Ethiopian coffee.

From the Ethiopian coffee producing region map, one can see that Guji has been separated from Sidamo because Guji's geographical location is superior enough, and its coffee flavors are unique and distinctive. As early as 2010, it was separated from the Sidamo region by the ECX (Ethiopian Commodity Exchange). The Hambella sub-region, which produces Flower Champion coffee beans, is the coffee sub-region with the highest planting altitude in Ethiopia.

This award-winning Flower Champion comes from Buku Abel Estate, so Buku Abel Estate is also known as Flower Champion Estate. The estate is surrounded by mountains, and the soil is red-brown organic soil. The average annual rainfall exceeds 1200mm, making it extremely suitable for coffee cherry growth. Mature coffee fruits are also hand-picked, with very strict standards for the fruits - they must have a sugar content of over 30% to undergo natural processing.

During the first two days of natural processing, the moisture of the red fruit must be maintained to allow its fructose to fully begin fermentation. At the same time, due to the high-altitude geographical location, nighttime temperatures can drop to around 12 degrees Celsius, so excessive fermentation odors won't be produced due to high temperatures. The estate provides shade during midday when temperatures are higher to prevent the red fruits from being sunburned. Only fully red, completely mature coffee cherries are selected, hand-picked, and dried on African raised beds. The fruit layer thickness is limited, and they are turned regularly throughout the day to ensure even natural drying and ventilation, more accurately controlling the fermentation degree. At night, to prevent sudden rainfall, they are wrapped with thick plastic sheets. This allows the red fruits to ferment and dehydrate at relatively low temperatures.

After 18 days of natural processing, the moisture content of the green coffee beans drops to around 13%. Finally, natural processing is stopped, and they are packed in jute bags and placed in warehouses under natural conditions of 12-22 degrees Celsius and 40-50% humidity for about 50 days of green bean resting and further dehydration. When the green bean moisture content reaches around 10%, they can be transported to processing plants for hulling, screening, and sale.

It is precisely because of such superior growing conditions that FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Natural Flower Champion coffee has a sweeter and more fragrant flavor. You can taste passion fruit aroma, rose floral notes, and sweet strawberry fragrance. The juice-like mouthfeel makes you feel as if you're in a sweet, rich orchard. FrontStreet Coffee believes this is the unique charm of FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Champion coffee. The championship is well-deserved, and those who have tasted FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Champion coffee - who could resist falling under its spell?

What Makes Flower Champion Coffee Beans?

So, what coffee beans can be considered "Flower Champion coffee beans"? FrontStreet Coffee mentioned earlier that Flower Champion coffee beans come from Buku Abel, and additionally, they must be natural-processed coffee beans to be considered Flower Champion coffee beans.

Buku Abel means "new place" in the local Ethiopian language. In this ancient country with over two thousand years of history and a population of one hundred million, blocked from Asia by the East African Rift Valley, new virgin lands are still being discovered on this plateau waiting for development. Compared to millennia of culture, this is a relatively newly developed land.

Buku Abel is located in southeastern Ethiopia, an extremely high-altitude primitive tribe in the Hambela area of the Guji region, with a population of about 30,000 people. This small village, like most Ethiopian coffee gardens, grows in wild, primitive forests. Coffee farmers here have passed down their traditions through generations, planting native bananas and interspersing local native coffee tree varieties among the banana groves.

Friends who have been following FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Champion coffee beans should notice that the naming convention of Flower Champion coffee beans is very interesting - it appears in the format "Flower Champion X.0." This naming system increments the number with each passing year. For example, 2018 was Flower Champion 2.0, 2019 was Flower Champion 3.0, 2020 was Flower Champion 4.0, and 2021 naturally became Flower Champion 5.0. Now, the 2022 harvest season's work is coming to an end, and if all goes well, this year's will be FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Natural Flower Champion 6.0.

Regarding the arrival of Flower Champion 6.0, FrontStreet Coffee, like its friends, holds very high expectations. However, patience is a virtue - we must wait. Flower Champion 6.0 is expected to arrive at ports in April, and FrontStreet Coffee has pre-ordered batches at the first opportunity. Friends can pay attention to FrontStreet Coffee's updates, and FrontStreet Coffee will not disappoint, letting everyone taste the freshness of FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Natural Flower Champion 6.0.

Today, on FrontStreet Coffee's bean shelf, there are two Flower Champion coffee varieties: FrontStreet Coffee's Small Bean Flower Champion and FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Flower Champion 5.0. FrontStreet Coffee had previously found some small coffee beans in Flower Champion 2.0 and Flower Champion 3.0, and similarly found small coffee beans in subsequent seasons' Flower Champion coffee beans. Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee discovered that the aroma of Flower Champion coffee mainly comes from these small-bean Flower Champion coffee beans.

In 2020, DW Company's Buku Abel processing plant also separately processed these small-bean Flower Champion coffee beans and established a brand, which is "Small Bean Flower Champion." FrontStreet Coffee, through cupping these two FrontStreet Coffee Flower Champion coffee beans currently on its shelf, found that FrontStreet Coffee's Small Bean Flower Champion coffee has a stronger aroma, with flavors closer to the 2017 TOH Natural Champion's strawberry cream flavor; while FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Flower Champion 5.0 leans more toward Guji region flavors, with citrus, berry notes, elegant floral aromas, and tea-like sensations.

If you want to explore the flavor differences between these two coffee beans, the best approach is to try them directly. Coffee beans sent by FrontStreet Coffee to friends are roasted within 5 days of ordering, arriving just after the 4 to 7-day resting period, when flavors are at their peak. Some friends who don't have suitable grinding equipment at home might note the option for grinding service, which FrontStreet Coffee also provides. However, once coffee beans are ground into powder, degassing becomes more active, and flavor compounds dissipate more quickly, so purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing yields better flavors.

Friends who have coffee grinding equipment at home often ask FrontStreet Coffee: how fine should the grind be? Due to different grinding equipment, the scales used vary greatly. To have relatively unified data, FrontStreet Coffee uses China Standard No. 20 sieve when determining coffee bean grind size. For pour-over coffee, the grind size generally has a 70% to 80% passing rate through the No. 20 sieve, depending on the roast level.

For FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Champion coffee beans, to highlight their berry, citrus notes, and tropical fruit juice sensations, a medium-light roast level is used. Therefore, in terms of grind size selection, an 80% passing rate through China Standard No. 20 sieve is recommended, using 90-degree Celsius hot water and brewing with an Hario V60 dripper.

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90 degrees Celsius

Coffee Amount: 15 grams

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: 80% passing rate through China Standard No. 20 sieve

First pour 30 grams of hot water for a 30-second bloom, then pour slowly in a spiral from the center to 125 grams for segmentation. When the water level in the dripper drops to just about to expose the coffee bed, continue spiral pouring to 225 grams and stop pouring. Total extraction time is approximately 2 minutes.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473