Is Ethiopian Sidamo Natural Guji More Expensive Than Geisha and Blue Mountain? Flavor Profile and Characteristics

Pour-over Brewing Guide for Flower Queen Coffee

For a pour-over Flower Queen, use 15g of coffee beans ground to a medium-fine consistency (a Fuji ghost-tooth grinder setting of 3.5) in a V60 dripper, with water at 91-93°C. Start by pouring 30g of water and let it bloom for 27 seconds. Continue pouring to 105g, then pause until the water level drops halfway. Slowly pour to a total of 225g, discarding the tail end. The water-to-coffee ratio is 1:15, and the total extraction time is 2:00.

Flower Queen Award History

Cupping Notes

Passion fruit, rose floral aroma, strawberry jam, berry sweet-and-sour, peach flesh, red tea finish.

Awards

2016/2017 Season:

• Ethiopia National Taste of Harvest Competition - Champion
• 2016/2017 harvest season Ethiopia Coffee Competition - Champion

2017:

• 2017 Regional Africa Taste of Harvest Competition - Second Place
• 2017 Africa Coffee Competition - Second Place

Origin and Processing

The Flower Queen processing station sits in Buku Abel village, at an altitude of 2250-2350 meters. Through the harvest and processing season (December to January), its unique growing environment and natural climate create Flower Queen's distinctive flavor. Sun-drying begins only once the sugar content of the harvested red cherries reaches 30 or above.

During the first two days of sun-drying, the moisture content of the red cherries is held steady to ensure adequate fermentation of their fruit sugars. The high-altitude location lets the station's nighttime temperature fall to around 12°C, preventing the over-fermentation that excessive heat would cause. During the hotter midday hours, shading is provided promptly to keep the red cherries from sun-scalding.

At night, thick plastic sheeting is wrapped around the cherries to guard against sudden rain. This lets the red cherries ferment and dehydrate at lower temperatures. After 18 days of sun-drying, once the green coffee beans' moisture content drops to around 13%, drying stops. The beans are bagged in jute and stored in warehouses at 12-22°C and 40-50% humidity for about 50 days of further curing and dehydration. When the green-bean moisture reaches around 10%, they go to the processing plant for hulling, sorting, and sale.

Coffee Origin Information

Coffee Country: Africa, Ethiopia

Coffee Estate: Guji, Hambella Wamena region, Dimtu city, Buku Abel estate

Coffee Variety: Heirloom, Ethiopian native varieties

Production Altitude: 2250-2350m

Quality Grade: G1

Processing Method: Natural sun-dried (African drying beds)

Manufacturer: Coffee Workshop
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast Level: Green beans/Roasted beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Ethiopia
Roast Degree: Light roast

Ethiopian Sidamo Shakisso Natural

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Guji Zone

Altitude: 2250-2350m

Processing Method: Natural

Variety: Local native Heirloom

Producer: Local small farmers

Flower Queen Flavor Profile: Passion fruit, rose floral aroma, strawberry jam

Sidamo Coffee Characteristics

Sidamo Flower Queen coffee offers remarkably diverse flavors. Varying soil compositions, regional microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties create distinct differences in the coffee produced from each town area. The Sidamo production region lies in southern Ethiopia, where agriculture dominates the local economy and the coffee-growing areas cluster around the Great Rift Valley.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the Flower Queen's tropical, berry-forward profile is one pole of the coffee world, Jamaica Blue Mountain is the other. FrontStreet's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 comes from the historic Clifton Estate, where coffee has been grown and processed since roughly 1750. The estate sits at an average of 4300 feet (1310.64m), where ample elevation, gentle afternoon cloud cover, generous sunlight, and mineral-rich soil slow the ripening of the cherries. Blue Mountain No. 1 is the highest grade, with strict standards for bean size, defect count, and overall quality, and every lot shows the certified origin paperwork and the traditional wooden barrels, packed in 15, 45, and 70kg sizes, that mark genuine Blue Mountain.

FrontStreet roasts its Blue Mountain No. 1 to a medium-dark level, which draws out the bean's classic balance: nutty and dark-chocolate notes layered with creamy caramel and a soft sweetness, with acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and aroma in harmony. To brew it, FrontStreet suggests a Kono dripper and 15g of coffee rested 4-7 days from the roast date, ground a touch coarser than a light roast, about the texture of granulated sugar. Use 87-88°C water at a 1:15 ratio, and pour in three stages: 30g to bloom for 30 seconds, then to 120g with a slow, narrow, circular pour, then to 225g a little faster to avoid clogging the dripper and over-extracting. The cup comes out clean, complex, and gentle, with chocolate sweetness, a full body, and a long fruity finish.