90+ Nekisse Honey Kiss Coffee Story_Affordable Price with Explosive Flavor Profile

Nekisse, the "Honey Kiss" Coffee

This coffee originated in Shakisso, Ethiopia, and was named "Nekisse" for "the nectar of the Shakisso region." It is processed by the traditional natural method: cherries are dried on raised beds before the dried pulp and mucilage are removed, and the beans are finally sent to Addis Ababa for hulling. The original cup showed intense berry jam, a creamy body, citrus, and tropical fruit. Later, production moved to Wellega and Sidama, where the regions proved capable of even better nectar-and-jam qualities.

In 2010, "Nekisse" — the third coffee to meet Ninety Plus standards — was launched and received Coffee Review's highest score of the year: 96 points. Because "Honey Kiss" echoes the sound of "Nekisse," the bean has picked up affectionate nicknames in other markets as well. No embellishment is needed to taste coffee at its most original and delicious.

Ninety Plus

Ninety Plus is an internationally renowned green-coffee producer and trader, famous worldwide for sourcing rare and distinctive coffees.

Joseph Brodsky officially founded the company in 2007, and from the following year onward, Ninety Plus award winners have appeared in coffee competitions of every size around the globe.

Exquisite green-bean cultivation and processing, outstanding varieties, and a unique grading system have made Ninety Plus a top-tier, unmistakable presence in the green-bean market.

Ninety Plus's Meticulous Cultivation and Processing

The Profile Processing System

The Profile Processing system exists to tailor every stage of each coffee's cultivation, harvest, and processing. Through repeated cupping and calibration, it ensures each variety fully expresses its own fruit character.

Flavor Codes, Not Process Labels

Ninety Plus classifies its coffees by "fruit flavor intensity" rather than by the traditional process labels of washed, honey, or natural.

The three codes — W2, H2, N2 — describe flavor intensity levels rather than processes, so you may find washed or naturally processed beans within the "H2" honey-flavor category.

• W2 = washed-flavor profile
• H2 = honey-flavor profile
• N2 = natural-flavor profile

Flavor Description

Cherry, berries, plum, strawberry, peach, jasmine. Intensely assertive floral and fruit aromatics, sweet and delicate, with lemon, citrus, and berries carrying a mature, wine-like acidity and pleasant florals. A colorful constellation of fruits — strawberry, apple, lemon, grape, citrus — each expressed in turn. The taste of honey and toffee lingers, over a silky, cream-like body and a long aftertaste reminiscent of top-grade Darjeeling tea.

FrontStreet is a Guangzhou roastery with a small storefront but a wide range of beans, famous and obscure alike, with online shop service available.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the Nekisse story has whetted your appetite for Ethiopian naturals, FrontStreet's sun-dried Ethiopian lineup is the place to start. The FrontStreet Natural Huakui comes from the Hambella district of Guji, Sidamo, on a 200-hectare farm; to keep the cherries from molding or picking up earthy taints, workers dry them on raised beds for 21 days, turning them constantly for even drying and hand-sorting out defective beans every three to five days before hulling and a final visual sort. Roasted medium-light, it opens with a light fermented wine note, florals, citrus, and mango, with honeyed sweetness, a cocoa undertone touched with spice, and a thick body with a long finish.

For another expression of the same sun-dried craft, the FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Red Cherry lot selects only fully ripe, all-red cherries, dried on raised beds kept clear of the ground so the fruit never contacts dust, insects, or bacteria. After 27–30 days of drying, it delivers elegant florals, bright acidity, pronounced tropical fruit, and a full, sweet fermentation character — the essence of why Ethiopian naturals are famous. And if you'd rather taste the origin through its wild side, the FrontStreet Kaffa Forest coffee — harvested from semi-wild trees at 1,400–2,100 meters — shows white florals, bright lemon acidity, sweet orange and bergamot, and a green-tea-like body.