Ethiopia | Guji Region | Sukuto Bona Shati Triple Washed/Honey/Natural

Ethiopia | Guji Region | Suke Quto: Bonassati Trio Washed/Honey/Natural G1 Coffee Flavor Profile

Suke Quto Estate was founded by owner Tesfaye Bekele in 2005 with a mere five hectares of land. Through more than a decade of persistent work, the estate has held on to its quality while earning recognition, and it has gradually grown into a medium-to-large operation spanning 200 hectares. It sits in the Suke Quto area of Guji, which is why it is commonly called Suke Quto Estate. In recent years, once the estate grew large enough to export coffee directly without routing through the ECX, the owner set up the export company Tade GG, so trade circles sometimes refer to the estate's coffee under that name.

Awards and Recognition

January 2015: Coffee Review 95 points, ranked 5th best coffee of the year

2017: Taste of Harvest competition hosted by the East African Fine Coffee Association, 3rd place in the international finals

Suke Quto lies in the prized Shakisso area of Guji, roughly 500 kilometers from the capital, Addis Ababa. The Guji zone actually sits east of Yirgacheffe, though the area bordering Yirgacheffe is Hambela. To reach Shakisso you would not normally pass through Yirgacheffe at all. Instead, after driving south from the capital for about six hours to the town of Yirga Alem, you take the left fork onto Highway 82 rather than the right-hand road to Yirgacheffe, then continue southeast for roughly four more hours before finally arriving at Shakisso (N 5°46'21" E38°54'9", elevation around 1730m). Suke Quto sits about 12 kilometers southwest of Shakisso town in a straight line. Leaving town you must first head south and skirt an enormous gold mining site, which takes about an hour. Historically, the most famous economic activity in Guji was gold mining! The main mining district, Kibre Mengist, lies just northeast of Shakisso town. Anyone hunting for coffee in these hills crosses mining areas constantly and can still spot traces of gold panning in the streams. The glittering gold trade, set against coffee's own "black gold," makes for a fascinating then-and-now contrast.

Origin Information

Region: Guji

Area: Shakisso

Location: Suke Kebele, Quto Area

Producer: Tesfaye Bekele

Elevation: 1,900 – 2,200 meters

Variety: Ethiopian Heirloom

Annual Rainfall: Approximately 1,800 - 2,000 mm

Processing: Washed, dried on African raised beds

Flavor Profiles

🔹 Washed: Freshly ground, it releases sweet florals and dried apricot aromatics. On the palate, distinctive peach, blueberry, and jasmine notes come forward, backed by lemon peel, citrus, bergamot, and vanilla. The body is solid and full, the mouthfeel smooth, and the finish rich, delicate, and lingering. As the cup cools, jasmine and honeyed peach grow more prominent, recalling the lush, juicy sweetness of Wakayama peaches.

🔹 Honey Process: The dry fragrance shows lemon peel and florals. In the cup, you first find frangipani, lemon, citrus, orange peel, and bergamot, followed by fresh, sweet blueberry and peach, with a finish like lemon sandwich cookies. Honey processing is a rare method for Ethiopia, and here it delivers a silky texture and excellent sweetness — not to be missed!

🔹 Natural Process: The dry aroma offers strawberry, peach, and sweet florals. In the cup, delicate strawberry and peach arrive first, then frangipani, sweet orange, and passion fruit, while the finish carries a subtle mango note and honeyed sweetness. The layered sweet fruit and elegant florals are genuinely enticing.

Flavor Notes

Lemon peel and florals, frangipani, lemon, citrus, orange peel and bergamot, blueberry and peach, finishing like lemon sandwich cookies.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: Fuji Royal 3.5

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio of 1:15 with 15g of coffee. First pour 25g of water for a 25-second bloom. Second pour to 120g, then pause. Once the water level in the bed drops to half, resume pouring slowly up to 225g. Total extraction time is about 2:00.

Analysis:

This three-stage pour clearly separates the front, middle, and back of the coffee's flavor profile. Because the V60's deep ribs drain quickly, pausing the pour helps stretch out the extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this Guji lot appeals to you, two FrontStreet Coffee selections are worth trying. The FrontStreet Washed Yirgacheffe daily-drinker beans are the classic starting point for exploring Ethiopian coffees: they are known for white jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like finish, all at an accessible price, which is why many people make them their first specialty coffee purchase. Yirgacheffe itself is a small town in southern Ethiopia's Sidama zone at roughly 1700-2100 meters, with trees planted above 1800 meters — among the highest coffee elevations in the world — and its instantly recognizable white floral character and lemon-citrus acidity became so famous that in 2010 the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange separated it from Sidama as its own appellation.

For something fruitier, the FrontStreet Natural Red Cherry Yirgacheffe uses full-ripe cherry natural processing: only fully mature, defect-free cherries are picked, sorted at the washing station, and dried whole on raised beds, turned every 2-3 hours during the first days to prevent uneven heating and over-fermentation. After three to five weeks of sun-drying, the dried outer fruit layer is mechanically removed before the beans go to warehouse storage. Because the cherries dry with their fruit intact, the cup keeps classic Yirgacheffe character while adding tropical fruit: citrus-like acidity, berry juiciness, honeyed sweetness, and a creamy smoothness. Brew either one on a V60 at 90-91°C with 15g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio, ground to fine-granulated-sugar size (80% pass through a #20 sieve): pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour to 95g (about 125g total on the scale) by the 1-minute mark, finish with the remaining 100g (about 225g) by roughly 1:35, and drawdown completes between 2:00 and 2:10.