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What are the Differences in Flavor Between Zhumang and Flower Queen? The Distinction Between Guji and Sidamo Coffee Regions

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Ethiopia's coffee primarily consists of eight major regions: Lekempti, Limu, Illubabor, Djimmah, Harar, Teppi/Bebeka, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe. Ethiopian coffee enjoys high acclaim in China, with Chinese coffee enthusiasts showing particular interest in and passion for the Sidamo and Yirgacheffe regions. Sidamo

Ethiopia's Eight Major Coffee Growing Regions

Ethiopia coffee primarily comes from eight major growing regions: Lekempti, Limu, Illubabor, Djimmah, Harar, Teppi/Bebeka, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe.

Ethiopian coffee enjoys an excellent reputation in China, particularly the Sidamo and Yirgacheffe regions, which have captured special interest and passion among Chinese coffee enthusiasts. The Sidama province is located in southern Ethiopia, bordering Arsi province to the north, extending to connect with Bale province to the east, and adjacent to the Gamu Gofa provincial administrative region to the west.

Ethiopia's Administrative Structure and Coffee Naming

Ethiopia's administrative divisions are organized into four hierarchical levels, from largest to smallest: Region, Zone, Woreda, and Kebele. Most green coffee bean names follow this naming convention. For example, "Huang Kui" (Flower Champion) is located southeast of Yirgacheffe in the Sidamo region. Administratively, it belongs to Oromia Region → Guji Zone → Shakisso Woreda → Hambella.

Guji Zone: A Premium Coffee Region

Guji Zone was established as an independent coffee producing region by the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) in 2010 due to its superior geographical location and exceptional cup profile. Shakisso represents the most attractive micro-region within Guji, located southeast of Yirgacheffe with an average altitude exceeding 1,800 meters above sea level.

Huang Kui (Flower Champion): Single Farm Project

Huang Kui belongs to a single farm system (temporarily referred to as Single Farm Project, or SFP).

Huang Kui Region: Guji, Shakisso, Hambella

Currently, there are nearly 20 processing plants of various scales in the Hambella region. Hongshun, as a green coffee company "rooted" in Ethiopia's coffee growing regions, has established four sun-drying processing plants through cooperative partnerships in the GUJI Zone Hambella region since 2016. During the 2017/18 harvest season, they conducted a series of studies on sun-drying processing methods using the region's premium coffee varieties.

The four core estate processing plants in Hambella are: "Dire" Church Processing Plant, "Mansa" Mountain Pond Processing Plant, "Bobea" Red Flag Processing Plant, and "Goro Baessa" Mountain Spring Processing Plant. Goro Baessa is a small village surrounded by mountains at an altitude of 2,280 meters. December marks its coffee harvest season, during which the mountains are covered with bright red, ripe coffee cherries. The village features neatly arranged African drying beds—this is where "Huang Kui" is processed.

Huang Kui 2.0: Enhanced Quality and Consistency

The Huang Kui 2.0 that we tasted at FrontStreet Coffee comes from the Mountain Spring Processing Plant's micro-batch. Compared to last year's local mixed variety "Huang Kui," "Huang Kui 2.0" features more consistent bean size and cleaner processing. Through cupping evaluation, this year's "Huang Kui" not only maintains rich and enchanting floral aromas with mellow red wine and tropical fruit flavors, but also exhibits enhanced bright juice-like acidity and sweetness.

Drima Zede: The Candlelight Awakener

Drima Zede (Candlelight Awakener)

Region: 90+ SNNP, Sidama, Ethiopia

According to the most recently updated map from 90+ Company, the SNNP region has 8 sub-regions:

Ninety Plus: Revolutionizing Premium Coffee

In 2006, Joseph Brodsky founded Ninety Plus (90+) Company.

90+ adopts a cooperative model with local estates, maintaining complete control from planting, sampling, and harvesting through subsequent processing and cupping. 90+'s exclusive Profile Processing ensures each released coffee bean exhibits unique and stable flavor profiles and quality. 90+ coffees are marketed in the market using a approach similar to premium wines, making them truly distinctive.

90+ Company began selecting the most outstanding coffee cherries from various Ethiopian coffee farmers, initially focusing on processing methods to apply the most refined treatment to existing premium beans. This led to the debut of their initially renowned representative beans: Aricha and Beloya. The results of these experiments were astounding—the rich fruit flavors and high quality shocked the entire specialty coffee community.

Later, the product line was divided based on more distinct taste differences, categorized into four major series: NinetyPlus Ethiopia, NinetyPlus Panama, Ninety Levelup, and NinetyPlus Limited.

Drima Zede: Premium Quality at Accessible Pricing

Initially, Drima Zede appeared in the public eye as a 90+ sub-brand, offering approachable pricing.

Drima Zede green coffee beans appear slightly grayish, with some areas being large and coarse while others are fine. The acidity possesses both gentle and intense characteristics, the body is appropriately balanced between rich and light, and it offers sweet and spicy notes.

Unlike typical African coffees, Sidamo features clear fruit acidity, smooth mouthfeel, and delicate floral and herbal aromas. It carries subtle citrus notes, along with oak barrel and vanilla aromas, while tropical fruit flavors like nectarine are more pronounced.

Roasting Analysis: Drima Zede vs. Huang Kui

How are the roasting curves for 【Huang Kui】 and 【Drima Zede】 adjusted?

Both 【Huang Kui】 and 【Drima Zede】 belong to Ethiopia Heirloom varieties, with varying green bean sizes that still show some differences.

【Drima Zede】 has more pointed ends and good moisture content around 11%. However, it's not the extremely hard SHB-type bean. Due to the beans' high density and hardness, the initial dehydration phase is extended.

【Huang Kui 2.0】 is relatively more uniform, with a rounder appearance and very small beans, mostly between 14-15 mesh, smaller than Longberry varieties, with a greenish-yellow hue.

Cupping Results from FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee's cupping results are as follows:

【Huang Kui】: The wet aroma exhibits distinct, strong green tea and floral notes. When slurped, it reveals aromas of green tea, strawberry, jasmine, lime, and sugarcane. The mouthfeel is light and clean, with soft, refreshing acidity. However, the finish is somewhat lacking, leaving only a sweet sensation in the mouth. It drinks very lightly, more like fruit tea than coffee.

【Drima Zede】: The wet aroma features yellow lemon, floral notes, and black tea aromas, with distinct citrus characteristics. When slurped, it reveals black tea, yellow lemon, caramel, and jasmine aromas. The flavors become richer and more robust at this roast level. The initial acidity is more elegant, sweetness is perceived more quickly and is higher, with fermented wine notes, cream, tropical fruits, jackfruit, and nectarine, creating a more balanced flavor profile.

Final Cupping Analysis

FrontStreet Coffee's baristas found the clearest flavors to be:

Drima Zede: Nectarine, Jackfruit

Huang Kui: Strawberry Jam

Brewing Recommendations

As for brewing methods, pour-over and siphon brewing are optimal. During grinding, you can smell the intense sun-dried fruit aroma with evident sweetness.

A good cup of coffee is essentially characterized by balanced sweet-sour-bitter flavors and smooth mouthfeel. The design of filter cups aims to highlight these coffee characteristics. However, different filter cups present different styles when brewing coffee.

The beans used this time were Drima Zede, medium-light roast, on day 7 of the resting period.

FrontStreet Coffee's barista chose a resin V60 filter cup, allowing the coffee to display richer acidity changes from hot to cold, making this cup more refined. The resin material can enhance aroma intensity.

Filter Cup: 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 reaching 120g of water, and finish brewing at 225g, then remove the filter cup. The initial stage reveals nectarine and berry flavors, along with some sugarcane aftertaste, creating rich layers.

Total Time: 2 minutes 5 seconds