Flavor Characteristics of Negus Coffee Bean Roast Levels and How to Adjust Roast Time Curves for Negus SOE

Any coffee bean from raw to roasted must go through the process of roasting, and the degree of roasting—light, medium, or dark—needs to be determined based on the flavor characteristics of the coffee's origin and region. At the same time, roasters will deeply understand the original taste and characteristics of the raw beans. They will also consider factors such as the coffee growing region, climate, altitude, post-harvest processing methods of coffee cherries, moisture content when packaging coffee beans, and the storage temperature and humidity during export. All these elements affect the final taste of the roasted coffee, and understanding how these factors influence roasting quality is precisely the roasting skill that coffee experts pursue.

For example: Asian beans typically have rich, herbal, and nutty flavors, making them suitable for medium-dark roasting; American beans feature balanced nut and chocolate notes, also suitable for medium-dark roasting; African beans are known for their bright, clean floral and fruity aromas, making them ideal for light-medium roasting. When FrontStreet Coffee receives new coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters will first examine the raw bean information: country of origin, region, coffee variety, processing method, and flavor description. Based on this basic information, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters will create three different roasting curves: one lighter, one moderate, and one darker. The next day, they will cup test these three roasting curves to select the one that best suits the coffee bean's flavor profile.

FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Queen Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Queen coffee beans belong to Ethiopia, an African coffee-producing country. African coffee beans typically have lighter flavors with prominent floral and fruity notes and distinct acidity. With these flavor characteristics, the coffee beans are roasted using a light-medium approach. If the coffee beans were roasted medium-dark, the flavors would become bitter with caramel notes, and the floral and fruity aromas would be suppressed. This would not align with the inherent flavors of the coffee beans, nor would it represent the characteristic taste of Ethiopian coffee beans. Therefore, to highlight the bright, elevated acidity of Ethiopian coffee, FrontStreet Coffee generally uses light-medium roasting for coffee beans from Ethiopia.

African coffee beans, when fresh, have a clean, bright, though slightly thin mouthfeel. Each coffee bean variety has its unique roasting curve, requiring precise judgment of bean drop and extraction times to capture optimal flavors. In the process of recording roasting curves, careful blind tasting of each roasted batch helps capture key elements, making it easier to grasp the intended flavor profile! Remember that each batch of coffee beans requires different roasting curves and methods. Environmental factors during cultivation also affect raw bean quality. The rainfall in the producing region for the current and previous year, as well as the drying process before export, are also critical factors.

FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Queen coffee comes from the Hambela sub-region within the Sidamo region. Hambela is located in the renowned Guji zone within Sidamo, with its western side facing the Kochere area of Yirgacheffe across mountains.

FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Queen coffee beans come from the Hambela region. Most Ethiopian coffee beans are named after their producing region, so why is this coffee called "Flower Queen" instead of "Hambela"? There's an interesting story behind this. In 2017, this natural-processed coffee bean from Hambela was submitted by DW company to the Africa TOH (Taste of Harvest) competition, where it won first place in the natural category.

In the same year, a Beijing-based raw bean company—Hongshun Company—tasted the enchanting vanilla cream flavor of Flower Queen coffee. They recognized that if the post-processing methods for Flower Queen coffee beans continued to improve technically, it had the potential to become the next Geisha coffee. Consequently, they introduced Flower Queen coffee to China and named it "Flower Queen" (Hua Kui), expressing high hopes for it.

Coffee is also an agricultural product, and its flavor may vary with annual climate changes, though the main characteristics remain consistent. To distinguish Flower Queen coffee from different years, versions like Flower Queen 2.0, 3.0, up to the current Flower Queen 5.0 and 6.0 have emerged. FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Queen 5.0 has been extremely popular, with an exceptionally delightful flavor profile featuring citrus, berries, tropical fruits, jackfruit, and honey sweetness that makes people fall in love at first sip.

Varieties of Flower Queen Coffee Beans

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, with an incredible diversity of coffee varieties. Additionally, due to Ethiopia's general economic conditions, there hasn't been sufficient funding for extensive variety research. Furthermore, the Ethiopian government is reluctant to disclose information to protect native coffee tree resources. Therefore, many local coffee varieties are collectively referred to as "heirloom varieties" or "local native varieties."

Processing Method of Flower Queen Coffee Beans

Coffee from the Sidamo region typically uses the most primitive and traditional coffee processing method—natural processing. The natural processing method involves drying whole, ripe coffee cherries under the sun. Over time, sugars from the fruit flesh and mucilage penetrate into the coffee beans, making the coffee's sweetness more prominent and the mouthfeel richer and smoother. Flower Queen coffee, in particular, exhibits a berry cream flavor that is exceptionally enticing.

Roasting Philosophy and Curve for Flower Queen Coffee Beans

Coffee roasting significantly impacts coffee flavor. A bean's inherent flavor characteristics cannot be completely altered during roasting, but as the roast level deepens, more roast-derived flavors emerge in the coffee's profile, while the original plant-based tastes and aromas diminish, creating a deeper overall profile. The most dramatic changes occur after the first crack begins. The roasting process is challenging—too much heat results in exterior being cooked while interior remains underdeveloped; too little heat leads to overdevelopment while exterior is still baking. Dehydration is often the crucial first step in coffee roasting. Coffee beans contain varying moisture levels, and combined with different storage conditions, they may retain moisture, making roasting dehydration essential. Key point one: preheating the drum. Key point two: determining bean drop temperature based on raw bean characteristics. Key point three: heat adjustment. Achieving consistent roasting inside and out requires precise heat control.

From machine startup and loading green beans, watching the temperature rise until the temperature recovery point begins heating up, waiting to hear the first crack, or completing the roasting process after the second crack—coffee roasting may seem simple, but it's actually an art that requires accumulated experience.

Due to production needs, a 550g (full capacity) batch was chosen for roasting:

Bean drop temperature: 190°C

Adjusting the curve only by changing bean 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 development after first crack, 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 development after first crack, first crack at 9'50

FrontStreet Coffee's cupping results for Flower Queen are as follows:

First roast: The dry aroma shows distinct green tea and floral notes. When slurping, green tea, jasmine, lime, and cane sugar aromas are evident. The mouthfeel is light and clean, with soft, fresh acidity. However, the aftertaste is somewhat lacking, with only slight sweetness remaining in the mouth. Nevertheless, it's very easy to drink, more like enjoying a cup of tea rather than coffee.

Second roast: The dry aroma reveals yellow lemon, floral notes, black tea aromas, with distinct citrus characteristics. When slurping, black tea, yellow lemon, caramel, and jasmine aromas are present. The flavors become richer and more substantial at this roast level. The initial acidity is more elegant, sweetness is perceived more quickly, sweetness level is higher, with fermented wine notes, cream, tropical fruits, and jackfruit creating better balance.

After roasting and adjustments, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters, using a Taiwan Yang Jia 800N machine, ultimately determined curve #2 as the most satisfactory through cupping:

Drop beans at 190°C, complete dehydration and yellowing in nearly 6 minutes. (Yellowing point around 150-153°C)

First crack begins around 9 minutes 50 seconds (Flower Queen's first crack occurs later than typical beans, and the cracking sound is weak)

For development time after first crack, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters recommend controlling it not to exceed 1 minute 30 seconds, nor to go below 1 minute (recommend opening the air damper and reducing heat to control speed). When smelling with the sampling spoon, strawberry jam aromas become detectable around 193°C, at which point beans should be dropped. The total time for Flower Queen should ideally be controlled within 11 minutes.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Parameters for Flower Queen Coffee

To fully extract Flower Queen's rich layered flavors, FrontStreet Coffee uses higher water temperature and finer grind size for extraction. However, to avoid over-extraction from high temperatures, they use faster-flowing drippers like the V60. The V60 dripper has a 60° conical shape that allows coffee grounds to concentrate, and when pouring water, the flow automatically converges toward the center, ensuring sufficient contact time between water and coffee grounds for proper extraction. Additionally, the spiral ribs on the inside of the V60 create adequate space between filter paper and dripper, promoting good water flow. Combined with the large bottom hole, water flows faster than many other drippers.

FrontStreet Coffee's specific brewing parameters are: V60 dripper, water temperature 90°C, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, coffee dose 15g, medium-fine grind (80% pass-through rate on China #20 standard sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee's segmented extraction method: First, use 30g of water to thoroughly moisten the coffee bed into a "hamburger" shape for a 30-second bloom. The second pour at 1'00" brings water to 125g, then wait until the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed before the third pour. The third pour at 1'40" brings water to 225g. Total extraction time is 1'59" after coffee completely drips through. Total brewing time is 2'00". After extraction completes, gently swirl the server to ensure the coffee is well mixed before tasting.

FrontStreet Coffee's natural-processed Sidamo Flower Queen coffee flavor: Light fermented wine aroma, with more prominent caramel notes, richer and more complex mouthfeel, honey sweetness, cocoa undertones with hints of spice, full body with persistent aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations

Freshly roasted coffee beans are best rested for 2-5 days to allow substantial carbon dioxide release before drinking, resulting in smoother flavors. FrontStreet Coffee uses aluminum foil bags with one-way degassing valves to store coffee beans, preventing oxidation from air ingress while allowing carbon dioxide escape, ensuring beans remain in optimal fresh condition. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee ships coffee beans within 5 days of roasting. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Quality Coffee," ensuring every customer receives the freshest coffee upon receipt. The optimal resting period for coffee is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their order, the flavor is at its peak.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee offers a gentle reminder: Pre-ground coffee doesn't require resting, as the pressure from carbon dioxide buildup in the package during transport also helps mellow the coffee flavor, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly, as it oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee's flavor will dissipate more rapidly, diminishing its quality. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing to better experience the coffee's full flavor profile.

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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