The Story of the 2018 New Season Ethiopian Sidamo Hambela Flower Queen 2.0

Coffee Knowledge Exchange

FrontStreet Coffee shares coffee knowledge from around the world. This article traces the Flower Queen, a celebrated Ethiopian natural coffee, from its award-winning debut to the 2018 micro-lot and the roasting curves behind it.

Ethiopian Sidamo Shakisso Natural - Flower Champion

Product Name: Ethiopia Natural Sidamo G1 Flower Champion

Coffee Origin: Africa, Ethiopia

Coffee Estate: Guji, Hambella Wamena, Buku Able Estate

Coffee Variety: Heirloom (Ethiopia local native varieties)

Altitude: 2250-2350m

Quality Grade: G1

Processing Method: Natural (African drying beds)

01 | Estate Introduction

How did the Flower Champion get its name?

In 2017, Ethiopia's DW green coffee company sent their beans to the TOH (The Taste of Harvest) competition organized by the African Coffee Association. The natural batch won the TOH Ethiopia championship, and as a champion it was named "Flower Champion."

Flower Champion comes from Hambella, part of Ethiopia's largest coffee-producing region, Guji, and administratively belonging to the Oromia region. Hambella faces the Yirgacheffe Kochere region across the mountains to the west, and borders Guji's Shakiso, Uraga, and Kercha sub-regions to the southeast, east, and north respectively. It is Ethiopia's highest-altitude coffee sub-region (Harrar is Ethiopia's highest-altitude main producing region).

Awards

2016/2017 Harvest Season Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest Competition Champion

2017 Regional Africa Taste of Harvest Competition Runner-up

2018 New Harvest Season Ethiopian Flower Champion 2.0

FrontStreet Coffee has newly acquired the 2018 new harvest season Ethiopian Flower Champion 2.0, from the core Hambella producing region, a micro-batch from the Mountain Spring Processing Station.

Currently there are about 20 processing stations of various scales in the Hambella region. As a green coffee company rooted in Ethiopia's coffee-producing regions, Hong Shun has established four natural processing stations through cooperation in the Guji Hambella region since 2016, and during the 2017/18 harvest season carried out a series of studies on natural processing methods using the region's high-quality varieties. The four estate processing stations in Hambella's core region are the "Dire" Church Processing Station, the "Mansa" Pond Processing Station, the "Bobea" Red Flag Processing Station, and the "Goro Baessa" Mountain Spring Processing Station. Goro Baessa is a small village surrounded by mountains at an altitude of 2280 meters. December is its coffee harvest season each year, when the mountains fill with bright red ripe cherries, neatly arranged on African drying beds in the village. This is where the Flower Champion is processed.

02 | Processing Method

Most coffee estates in Ethiopia remain in their natural state, with local farmers going into the mountains to harvest. With red-brown organic soil, annual rainfall exceeding 1200mm, high altitude, and a large day-night temperature difference, the Flower Champion selects only fully red, completely mature cherries, all hand-picked.

Drying takes place on African racks, limiting the thickness of the fruit layer and turning the cherries continuously every 24 hours, allowing low-temperature fermentation in the estate's unique natural environment.

During the harvest and processing season (December-January), the particular growing environment and climate create Flower Champion's distinctive profile. Natural processing only begins once the sugar content of the harvested red cherries reaches above 21. In the first two days of natural processing, the moisture of the red cherries is kept steady so their fructose can fully begin fermenting. Meanwhile the high-altitude location lets the processing station's nighttime temperature drop to around 12 degrees Celsius, preventing over-fermentation odors from high heat. When noon temperatures rise, shade is provided promptly to keep the sun from damaging the cherries.

Flower Champion 2.0, the Mountain Spring Processing Station micro-batch, only begins natural processing once red cherry sugar content reaches above 21, which produces quite high sweetness. Combined with 21 days of low-temperature fermentation (natural processing generally takes about ten days), this ensures even drying and ventilation and more precise control of the fermentation degree.

Compared with last year's local mixed-variety Flower Champion, Flower Champion 2.0 has a more consistent bean shape and cleaner processing. Cupping shows that this year's Flower Champion not only has rich, enchanting floral aromas and mellow red wine and tropical fruit flavors, but also adds bright, juice-like acidity and sweetness.

The entire process is simply more refined management guided by scientific measuring instruments, with no "tradition-breaking" improved steps. Natural processing only begins once red cherry sugar content reaches above 21, which produces quite high sweetness.

At night, thick plastic sheets are used to wrap the cherries against sudden rain, allowing them to ferment and dehydrate at relatively low temperatures. After 18 days of natural processing, when the moisture content of the green beans drops to about 13%, natural processing is stopped. The beans are packed in jute bags and stored under natural conditions at 12-22 degrees Celsius and 40-50% humidity for about 50 days of resting and further dehydration.

03 | Green Bean Analysis

The variety is local heirloom, a small-bean type with a relatively round shape. The beans are very small, mostly between 14-15 mesh, smaller than Longberry, and greenish-yellow. There is significant variation in bean size.

04 | Roasting Analysis

When a roaster gets beans as excellent as Flower Champion, how should they be roasted? How should the Flower Champion roasting curve be adjusted?

First I look at the flavor description from the green bean supplier, then check the bean moisture content. The freshly received green beans have a fermented wine aroma of coffee flowers, completely different from the grassy aroma of typical green beans. Flower Champion green beans also vary in size, with many pointed at both ends (Ethiopia Heirloom, Ethiopian native varieties). The moisture content is good, around 11%, though they are not the very hard SHB type. Because the beans are dense and hard, I extend the dehydration time in the early stage and enter first crack with the temperature still rising, trying to preserve the loss of small-molecule aromatic substances such as floral aromas.

Because of daily production needs, I chose a roasting amount of 550g (full load) for bean input, and share my experience here:

Bean input temperature: 190 degrees Celsius

Only adjust the curve by changing the drop temperature and development time:

First batch: Yellowing point: 150.3 degrees, 5 minutes 55 seconds, drop at 196 degrees, first crack development 1 minute 40 seconds, first crack point at 9'55

Second batch: Yellowing point: 151 degrees, 5 minutes 51 seconds, drop at 193 degrees, first crack development 1 minute 30 seconds, first crack point at 9'50

Cupping Two Adjusted Curves:

First batch: The wet aroma has obvious strong green tea and floral fragrance. Sipping reveals green tea, jasmine, lime, and cane sugar. The mouthfeel is light and clean, with soft, fresh acidity. The aftertaste is insufficient, though, with only some sweetness remaining in the mouth. It is very easy to drink, more like tea than coffee.

Second batch: The wet aroma has yellow lemon, floral, and black tea fragrance, with obvious citrus tones. Sipping reveals black tea, yellow lemon, caramel, and jasmine. The flavor begins to become richer and more substantial at this roast level. The entry acidity is more elegant, sweetness is perceived more quickly and is higher, with fermented wine aroma, cream, tropical fruits, and jackfruit, more balanced.

The cupping results are as follows:

After cupping, line 2 was finally chosen as the preferred curve:

190 degrees bean input, complete dehydration and yellowing in nearly 6 minutes. (Yellow point around 150-153 degrees)

First crack begins around 9 minutes 50 seconds (Flower Champion's first crack occurs later than typical beans, and the crack sound is very weak)

The development time after first crack should be controlled to no more than 1 minute 30 seconds and no less than 1 minute. (Opening the air damper and reducing heat is recommended to control speed)

When smelling the sampling spoon, around 193 degrees you can smell strawberry jam aroma, and it is then ready to drop the beans

Overall time control within 11 minutes is optimal.

04 | Brewing Analysis

As for brewing methods, pour-over and siphon are optimal. When grinding, you can smell the overwhelming natural fruit aroma and obvious sweetness.

A good cup of coffee is characterized by balanced sweet, sour, and bitter flavors along with a smooth mouthfeel. Drippers are designed to showcase these characteristics, and different drippers produce coffee in different styles.

This time I used beans from the Sidamo Guji region's Flower Champion [Flower Champion 2.0] Mountain Spring Processing Station micro-batch.

I chose a resin V60 dripper to give the coffee richer acidity changes from hot to cold, making the cup more refined. The resin material can also enhance aroma intensity.

Regarding Grind Size

For a light roast, we use a relatively medium-fine grind.

The coarseness of the grind directly affects extraction time and extraction rate. The finer the coffee is ground, the denser the coffee bed, the more particles contact hot water, the higher the extraction resistance, and the easier it is to extend extraction time and increase extraction rate, but also to over-extract.

Conversely, the coarser the coffee is ground, the larger the gaps in the coffee bed, the fewer particles contact hot water, the lower the extraction resistance, and the harder it is to extend extraction time, lowering the extraction rate, which makes it easy to under-extract. So a finer grind extends extraction time and raises extraction rate, while a coarser grind shortens extraction time and lowers extraction rate.

Dripper: Hario V60 transparent resin

Grind setting: Small Fuji 3.5

Water temperature: 90°C

Pour 25g of water for a 30-second bloom, segment when pouring to 120g of water, and finish brewing at 226g.

Total time: 2 minutes 5 seconds

The aroma has obvious muskmelon fragrance and strawberry jam. The entry brings jackfruit-like soft acidity, with strawberry berry flavors emerging in the middle section and some cane sugar sweet aftertaste, creating a relatively rich, layered experience.

Sharing learning results with everyone, contributing to the industry.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Ethiopian natural lots are the closest everyday match for the Flower Queen style, and FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian range covers that ground well. FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Red Cherry Yirgacheffe uses a whole-ripe-cherry natural process: only fully ripe, sound cherries are selected, then dried on raised beds for three to five weeks, turned every two to three hours during the first days to prevent uneven heating and over-fermentation. Because the fruit dries around the bean, the cup keeps the classic Yirgacheffe character while adding tropical fruit, with citrus acidity, berry-juice body, honey sweetness, and a creamy smoothness.

For a cleaner, washed expression of the same region, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Gedingding Cooperative comes from the Worka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe, once part of the Worka cooperative under the YCFCU umbrella. The fruit is pulped before drying, so the intrinsic character comes through clearly: bright citrus and lemon acidity under jasmine fragrance, with no bitter edge. FrontStreet Coffee's entry-level washed Yirgacheffe is the most accessible starting point of all, known for white jasmine, lemon-citrus acidity, and a tea-like finish at a friendly price.

These coffees are best brewed as pour-over. FrontStreet Coffee suggests a V60 at 90-91°C, 15g of coffee, and a 1:15 ratio, with a grind around fine granulated sugar (EK43s setting 10, or a 20-mesh sieve passing about 80%). Pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour to 95g (about 125g on the scale) over roughly one minute; once the water level drops to two-thirds of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (about 225g on the scale) over about 1 minute 35 seconds, finishing the drawdown at 2:00-2:10.