Ethiopian Coffee | Single Origin Coffee Beans Recommendation - Honey Process Coffee | Guji, Suke Quto Estate

Ethiopian Coffee | Single Origin Coffee Bean Recommendation -- Natural Red Cherry

Ethiopia SFP Suke Quto/Tade GG BunaSadi Honey G1 by Tesfaye Bekele

Ethiopia Guji G1 Suke Quto Estate BunaSadi Trio Honey Process

Cupping Notes:

When ground, it reveals lemon-peel and floral aromas. On sipping, you'll first experience jasmine, lemon, citrus, orange peel, and bergamot. This is followed by fresh, sweet blueberry and peach, with a finish reminiscent of lemon sandwich cookies. The rare honey processing method in Ethiopia showcases a silky, smooth texture and excellent sweetness - absolutely not to be missed!

Coffee Information:

Country: Ethiopia
Region: Guji
Sub-region: Shakisso
Area: Suke Kebele, Quto Area
Producer: Tesfaye Bekele
Altitude: 1,900 - 2,200 meters
GPS: N 5°41'31" E38°50'53"
Variety: Ethiopian Heirloom
Annual Rainfall: Approximately 1,800 - 2,000 mm
Processing: Washed, African raised bed drying

Suke Quto Estate was founded in 2005 by its owner, Tesfaye Bekele. Starting from just five hectares, through years of tireless effort, it not only maintained quality and gradually gained fame but also expanded to two hundred hectares, becoming a considerable medium-to-large plantation.

Because it is located in Suke Quto, Guji, it is commonly referred to simply as Suke Quto. In recent years, as the estate reached the legal scale to export coffee directly without going through the ECX, the owner established an export company, Tade GG. The coffee industry therefore sometimes uses this endearing name when referring to coffee produced by this estate.

Suke Quto is located in the prime Shakisso (Shakisso/Shakiso) growing region of Guji, over 500 kilometers from the capital, Addis Ababa. The Guji region actually lies to the east of Yirgacheffe, but the area adjacent to Yirgacheffe is the Hambela region. To travel to Shakisso, one generally does not pass through Yirgacheffe. Instead, after heading south from the capital for about six hours to reach Yirga Aleam town, you bypass the road to Yirgacheffe on the right and turn onto Highway 82 to the left, continuing southeast for another four hours to finally reach Shakisso (N 5°46'21" E38°54'9", altitude approximately 1,730m).

Suke Quto lies approximately 12 kilometers southwest of Shakisso town in a straight line. From Shakisso town, one must first head south and skirt a very large gold mine site, taking about an hour to arrive. Historically, the most famous economic activity in the Guji region has been gold mining! The main gold mining area, Kibre Mengist, is located near the northeast of Shakisso town. When searching for coffee beans in the area, traversing up and down through the mountains, there are many opportunities to pass through mining areas or see remnants of gold panning along the streams. This genuine gold-and-silver mining industry, compared with today's coffee "black gold," makes for a fascinating contrast.

"Buna" means coffee in Ethiopia, and "Sadi" means three in Oromifa. Together they form "Coffee Trio," which obviously refers to the three coffee processing methods: washed, natural, and honey. We are very familiar with washed and natural Ethiopian beans, but the anticipated honey processing can only be implemented on a single farm. Put simply, the ECX only has classifications and grading for washed and natural processing. If honey-processed coffee were sent to the ECX, within Ethiopia's vast coffee-industry supply chain and perhaps somewhat bureaucratic system, it might not even be clear which category it should be filed under.

Single Farm Project (SFP)

There are three systems for Ethiopian coffee exports: (1) most go through ECX bidding for export, (2) the cooperative system, and (3) the Single Farm Project. Among these, the "Single Farm" export trade system is the most promising. Everyone knows that Ethiopia is predominantly based on a smallholder system, but smallholders cannot completely achieve product traceability. The Single Farm Project is precisely the solution to this problem.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Ethiopia's Guji highlands and its rare processing methods are exactly what make this Suke Quto lot so special, and FrontStreet Coffee's own Ethiopian selections carry that same sense of place. The natural FrontStreet Ethiopia Huakui, grown in Hambella within Guji, delivers mango, citrus, and honey sweetness with a soft wine aroma and a full body. For a cleaner, more floral Guji-style cup, the washed FrontStreet Ethiopia Yirgacheffe brings jasmine, bright citrus, and a tea-like finish.