Ninety Plus Coffee Introduction - 90+ Coffee Grading Guide

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Ninety Plus Coffee: Cultivators of Excellence

Ninety Plus Coffee is a grower and producer of single-variety coffees from Panama and Ethiopia, committed to creating exceptional taste experiences through process innovation. Their mission is rooted in nature and sound social practice — restoring broken systems by rebuilding tree canopy and revitalizing ecosystems. They are stewards dedicated to making coffee taste better than when they found it.

Standing at the forefront of flavor design for consumers, Ninety Plus rebuilds broken farm models under guiding principles of taste, humanity, and ecology — always aiming to leave the coffee better than how it was found.

Understanding Ninety Plus Flavor Designations

It's essential to read Ninety Plus's flavor codes correctly:

W2 = a washed-style flavor profile

N2 = a natural-style flavor profile

H2 = a honey-style flavor profile

Across the coffee world generally, W means washed, N means natural, and H means honey processing. For Ninety Plus, however, W, N, and H describe flavors, not methods. W2 signals a bean that tastes like a washed coffee — it doesn't necessarily mean it was washed. As for the number 2, it carries no special significance.

The SK designation (Solar Kiln) is marked separately because SK is an innovative processing method Ninety Plus itself developed, with a clearly targeted application — hence its own label.

Ninety Plus's Own 100-Point Grading System

Ninety Plus beans also carry a distinctive 100-point grading scheme — fitting, since every bean they produce should cup above 90. Their grade levels are set by three factors: flavor, cost, and production volume:

Level 7: Special, delicate flavors that leave a profound impression

Level 12: A profound impression plus genuine conversation appeal

Level 21: A rare version of Level 7, typically with flavor beyond it

Level 39: A rare version of Level 12, with flavor superior to Level 12

Level 95: The current highest grade — enormous variation from dry aroma to cup, a profoundly deep impression, and very limited production

FrontStreet Coffee's Ninety Plus Offering

FrontStreet Coffee carries a representative Ninety Plus product: Zhumang. Roasted medium-light and brewed with 90°C water for about two minutes, it reveals distinctive florals, excellent nectarine and tropical fruit flavors, and an oak-barrel aroma.

What Is Zhumang LEVEL UP 90+?

Ethiopia's heirloom varieties grow in fertile soil at 1,750–2,000 meters, where moderate temperatures and favorable rainfall let this Sidamo coffee exceed what natural processing usually delivers. Naturals typically bring good sweetness but lack the clean brightness of washed beans. Zhumang, however, owes its excellence to the beans' inherent quality plus careful post-harvest processing, temperature- and humidity-controlled storage, and precise roasting.

Ninety Plus names its coffees by flavor concept rather than conventional specialty naming. "Zhumang" means roughly "best approach" locally: it inherits the charming aromatics of traditional naturals while offering rich, full fruit flavors. Where most naturals struggle to achieve a clean, bright mouthfeel, Zhumang combines the bright acidity of a washed coffee with the rich body of a natural — florals and fruit intertwined in a complex aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee: A Guangzhou-based roastery with a small storefront but a diverse bean list — famous and lesser-known alike — also offering online service at https://shop104210103.taobao.com

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Panama's growing regions — most famously Boquete and Volcan in Chiriquí Province — sit at the heart of the coffee belt, blessed with fertile volcanic soil and old-growth forest. In Boquete, drifting cloud cover keeps days humid and nights cool, and the slopes of Baru Volcano feed the trees everything they need.

That combination is what produces Panama's most celebrated coffee: washed Geisha. FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete washed Geisha is an estate-level, entry-priced example, grown at 1,600 meters; the rich volcanic ash soil translates directly into fragrant complexity, with jasmine florals, green tea, honey, and citrus-orange flavors in the cup.

For something other than Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee also carries La Esmeralda's Diamond Mountain line — Catuai and Caturra harvested from the estate's Jaramillo and Canas Verdes farms. The volcanic soil and forest shade of those two farms yield green beans with rich fruit aroma and sweetness, making Diamond Mountain one of La Esmeralda's most popular standalone brands after Geisha itself.