2018 New Season Ethiopian Coffee Recommendation: Sidamo Hambella Flower Queen 2.0

Ethiopian Sidamo Shakisso Natural - Flower Champion

Coffee Information

Name: Ethiopian Natural Sidamo G1 Flower Champion

Origin: Africa, Ethiopia

Estate: Guji, Hambella Wamena, Buku Able Estate

Variety: Heirloom (Ethiopian local native varieties)

Altitude: 2250-2350m

Grade: G1

Processing: Natural (African drying beds)

01 | Estate Introduction

How did Flower Champion get its name?

In 2017, Ethiopia's DW green coffee company sent its beans to the TOH (Taste of Harvest) competition hosted by the African Coffee Association, and the natural lot won the TOH Ethiopia championship. The lot was christened "Flower Champion" in honor of that title.

Flower Champion comes from Hambella, part of Guji, Ethiopia's largest coffee-producing region, administratively belonging to the Oromia region. Hambella faces Yirgacheffe's Kochore 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 the highest-altitude coffee sub-region in Ethiopia (Harrar being the highest-altitude of the main coffee-producing regions).

Awards

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

2017 Regional Africa Taste of Harvest Competition - Runner-up

2018 New Harvest Ethiopian Flower Champion 2.0

FrontStreet Coffee has newly acquired Flower Champion 2.0 from the 2018 harvest season — a micro-batch from the Mountain Spring processing station in the core Hambella region.

There are currently about 20 processing stations of various sizes in the Hambella region. As a green coffee company "rooted" in Ethiopia's coffee lands, Hongshun has, through cooperation since 2016, established four natural processing stations in the GUJI Hambella region. In the 17/18 harvest season they ran a series of trials on natural processing methods using the region's finest varieties. The four estate processing stations in the core Hambella area are: the "Dire" Church Station, the "Mansa" Pond Station, the "Bobea" Red Flag Station, and the "Goro Baessa" Mountain Spring Station. Goro Baessa is a small village ringed by mountains at an altitude of 2280 meters. December is harvest time each year, when the mountainsides turn red with ripe coffee cherries laid out neatly on African drying beds across the village — this is where "Flower Champion" is processed.

02 | Processing Method

Most Ethiopian coffee forests remain in their original, wild state, with local farmers venturing into the mountains to harvest. The region has red-brown organic soil, annual rainfall exceeding 1200mm, and a high altitude that brings wide day-night temperature swings. Flower Champion uses only fully red, completely mature cherries, all hand-picked.

The cherries are dried on African raised beds, with the fruit layer kept thin and turned regularly around the clock, allowing low-temperature fermentation in the estate's uniquely clean natural environment.

During the harvest season (December-January), that distinctive terroir and climate shape Flower Champion's signature flavors. Natural processing begins only once the sugar content of the harvested red cherries measures above 30. In the first two days, moisture is managed carefully so the fructose can kick off fermentation properly. Meanwhile, the high altitude lets nighttime temperatures at the station fall to around 12 degrees Celsius, preventing off-flavors from over-fermentation in excessive heat. When midday temperatures climb, the beds are shaded promptly to protect the cherries from sun damage.

Flower Champion 2.0 — the Mountain Spring micro-batch — starts natural processing once the red cherry sugar content reaches above 21, which yields considerable sweetness. Combined with a long, low-temperature fermentation of 21 days (typical naturals run about ten days), with even drying and constant ventilation, the fermentation degree can be controlled far more precisely.

Compared to last year's local mixed-variety "Flower Champion," "Flower Champion 2.0" shows a more uniform bean shape and cleaner processing. In cupping, this year's lot not only keeps the rich, enchanting florals and the mellow red-wine and tropical-fruit flavors, but also gains a brighter, more juice-like acidity.

The entire process involves nothing more than more refined management guided by scientific measuring instruments — no "tradition-breaking" gimmicks. Naturals begin only when the red cherry sugar content exceeds 21, which is what delivers that impressive sweetness.

At night, thick plastic sheeting covers the beds against sudden rain, letting the red cherries ferment and dehydrate at relatively low temperatures. After 18 days of natural processing, once the green bean moisture drops to about 13%, drying stops. The beans are packed in burlap and rested in warehouses held at 12-22 degrees Celsius and 40-50% humidity for about 50 days of resting and further moisture loss.

03 | Green Bean Analysis

The variety consists of local native heirlooms — small-grained types with a fairly round appearance. The beans are tiny, mostly 14-15 mesh, smaller than Longberry, with a greenish-yellow color and considerable variation in grain size.

04 | Roasting Analysis

How should a roaster handle beans this special, and how should the roast curve be adjusted?

First, review the flavor notes supplied by the green bean importer, then check moisture content. The freshly arrived beans carry a fermented, wine-like aroma reminiscent of coffee flowers — nothing like the grassy smell of ordinary green beans. Flower Champion beans vary in size and many taper to a point at both ends (typical Ethiopian Heirloom), with good moisture around 11%. They are not the very hard SHB type. Because the beans are dense and hard, I extend the drying phase early on so the temperature climbs before first crack, minimizing the loss of small-molecule aromatics like florals.

Since I need it for daily production, I chose a 550g batch size (full load) and can share my experience:

Bean-in temperature: 190°C

The curve is adjusted by tuning the drop temperature and development time:

First batch: Yellowing point 150.3°C at 5 minutes 55 seconds, dropped at 196°C, with 1 minute 40 seconds of development after first crack at 9'55.

Second batch: Yellowing point 151°C at 5 minutes 51 seconds, dropped at 193°C, with 1 minute 30 seconds of development after first crack at 9'50.

Cupping the Two Curves:

First roast: The wet aroma shows distinct, strong green tea and floral notes. On the slurp: green tea, jasmine, lime, and cane sugar. The mouthfeel is light and clean, with soft, fresh acidity. But the finish falls short, leaving only a faint sweetness — it drinks like tea rather than coffee.

Second roast: The wet aroma brings yellow lemon, florals, and black tea, with clear citrus tones. On the slurp: black tea, yellow lemon, caramel, and jasmine. The flavors turn richer and more substantial at this roast level. The opening acidity is more elegant, sweetness arrives faster and runs higher, and there are fermented wine notes, cream, tropical fruits, and jackfruit — more balanced overall.

After cupping both, curve #2 was the one I settled on — the curve I'm quite happy with:

• 190°C bean-in, with drying and yellowing complete in just under 6 minutes (yellow point around 150-153°C)

• First crack begins around 9 minutes 50 seconds (Flower Champion cracks later than most beans, and the sound is faint)

• Development after first crack should stay under 1 minute 30 seconds but not fall below 1 minute (opening the damper and cutting heat helps control the rate)

• When you smell the sample spoon, a strawberry jam aroma appears around 193°C — that's the drop point

• Keeping total roast time within 11 minutes is ideal

04 | Brewing Analysis

For brewing, pour-over and siphon are the best choices. Grinding the beans releases an overwhelming natural fruit aroma with a pronounced sweetness.

A great cup balances sweet, sour, and bitter with a smooth mouthfeel, and dripper design is all about showcasing those qualities. That said, different drippers present coffee in different styles.

The beans brewed here are Flower Champion from Sidamo's Guji region — Flower Champion 2.0, the Mountain Spring processing station micro-batch.

I chose a resin V60 dripper to bring out richer acidity changes as the cup cools from hot to cold, and because the resin material also lifts aroma intensity.

About Grind Size:

For light roasts, use a medium-fine grind.

Grind size directly affects both extraction time and extraction rate. The finer the grind, the denser the coffee bed and the more particle surface meets the hot water — extraction resistance rises, extraction time lengthens, and the extraction rate climbs, but over-extraction becomes a real risk.

The coarser the grind, the larger the gaps in the bed and the less surface area meets the water — extraction resistance falls, the time shortens, and the extraction rate drops, easily leading to under-extraction. In short: finer grind means longer extraction and higher extraction rate; coarser grind means shorter extraction and lower extraction rate.

Brewing Parameters:

• Dripper: Hario V60 clear resin

• Grind setting: Fuji Rokusuke 3.5

• Water temperature: 90°C

• Pour 25g of water for a 30-second bloom, then continue in segments — pour to 120g, and finish the brew at 226g

• Total time: 2 minutes 5 seconds

The aroma is distinctly melon-like, layered with strawberry jam. The first sip brings the gentle acidity of jackfruit, followed by strawberry berry notes emerging mid-palate and a cane-sugar aftertaste — beautifully layered.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Flower Champion 2.0 has you craving more Ethiopian coffees, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe lineup is the natural next step.

FrontStreet Coffee Washed Yirgacheffe (House Daily Driver) — For anyone just getting to know Ethiopia, start with this classic. It's known for white jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a tea-like finish, and its friendly price has made it many people's very first specialty coffee bean. Yirgacheffe itself is a small town in the Sidamo region sitting at roughly 1700-2100 meters, with coffee grown above 1800 meters — among the highest coffee elevations in the world. Brewing suggestion: 15g of coffee, a V60 dripper, water at 90-91°C, a 1:15 ratio, a grind with an 80% pass rate on a 20-mesh sieve (about the size of fine granulated sugar), and a three-pour structure — 30g bloom for 30 seconds, then to 125g, then a final pour to about 225g, finishing the drawdown in 2 minutes to 2 minutes 10 seconds.

FrontStreet Coffee Natural Red Cherry — From the same Yirgacheffe region, this lot is a full-red-cherry natural: only perfectly ripe, defect-free fruit is picked, sorted at the mill, and laid out 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 fruit is hulled and sent to the warehouse. Because the cherries dry with their fruit intact, the cup combines classic Yirgacheffe character with the tropical fruit aromatics of a natural — citrus-like acidity, a juicy berry mouthfeel, honeyed sweetness, and cream-smooth body.