2019 Air-Shipped New Harvest: Flower Queen 3.0 - More Intense Floral Aroma and Clearer Flavor Profile, Sidamo Flower Queen

2019 New Harvest Season Air-Shipped Flower Queen 3.0

Ethiopia - Mountain Spring Processing Plant - Natural Processing

Flavor Profile:

From high to low temperatures you can distinctly experience strawberry jam, jackfruit, passion fruit and other tropical fruit flavors. Rich floral notes, strawberry jam, lively bright acidity, an explosive floral aroma on entry, a rounded mouthfeel, strong layered complexity and a long-lasting aftertaste.

What's the difference between Flower Queen 3.0 and 2.0?

Flower Queen 2.0, a micro-lot from the Mountain Spring Processing Plant, undergoes natural processing only when the red cherry sugar content reaches above 21 degrees, resulting in considerable sweetness. It also undergoes 21 days of low-temperature fermentation (compared with the typical ten-odd days for natural processing), ensuring uniform drying and ventilation, and giving more precise control over the degree of fermentation.

Compared with last year's local mixed-variety "Flower Queen," "Flower Queen 2.0" features more consistent bean size and cleaner processing. Through cupping evaluation, this year's "Flower Queen" not only possesses rich and enchanting floral notes and mellow red wine and tropical fruit flavors, but also gains a more transparent juice-like sweetness and acidity.

The entire process involves only more refined management under the guidance of scientific measuring instruments, without any "tradition-breaking" improved processing methods. Natural processing begins only when red cherry sugar content reaches above 21 degrees, resulting in considerable sweetness.

To prevent sudden rainfall at night, thick plastic sheets are used for wrapping. This lets the red cherries ferment and dehydrate at relatively low temperatures. After 18 days of natural processing, when the moisture content of the green coffee beans drops to around 13%, the natural processing is stopped. The beans are then packed in jute bags and stored under natural conditions at 12-22°C with 40-50% humidity for about 50 days of bean resting and further dehydration.

Flower Queen 3.0 has higher flavor clarity than 2.0, with the average sugar content of harvested red cherries reaching 24%.

FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Queen Coffee Roasting Analysis

FrontStreet Coffee's roasters received this excellent bean, "Flower Queen" - how should it be roasted, and how should the Flower Queen roast curve be adjusted?

First, FrontStreet Coffee reviews the flavor description provided by the green bean supplier, then checks the bean moisture content. The freshly received green beans have a fermented wine aroma of coffee flowers, completely different from the grassy aroma of typical green beans. Moreover, Flower Queen green beans vary in size with many pointed ends (Ethiopia Heirloom), with good moisture content around 11%, but they are not the extremely hard SHB beans. Because the beans are dense and hard, FrontStreet Coffee extends the dehydration time in the early stages, entering first crack with rising temperature to minimize the loss of small-molecule aromatic substances such as floral notes.

Due to daily production needs, FrontStreet Coffee chooses to roast 550g (full capacity) batches. Here are FrontStreet Coffee's insights:

Bean entry temperature: 190°C

FrontStreet Coffee adjusts the curve only by changing the bean drop temperature and development time:

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

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

FrontStreet Coffee cupped both curves:

First roast: The wet aroma has distinct strong green tea and floral notes. When slurping, there are aromas of green tea, jasmine, lime and cane sugar. The mouthfeel is light and clean, with soft and fresh acidity. However, the aftertaste is lacking, with only some sweetness remaining in the mouth. But it is very easy to drink, like drinking a cup of tea rather than coffee.

Second roast: The wet aroma has yellow lemon, floral notes and black tea aroma, with obvious citrus tones. When slurping, there are aromas of black tea, yellow lemon, caramel and jasmine. The flavors become richer and more substantial at this roast level. The entry acidity is more elegant, sweetness is perceived more quickly, and the sweetness level is higher. Fermented wine aroma, cream, tropical fruits and jackfruit are more balanced.

FrontStreet Coffee's cupping results are as follows:

After cupping, FrontStreet Coffee finalized Curve #2:

Enter beans at 190°C, complete dehydration and yellowing in close to 6 minutes. (Yellow 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 crack sound is weak)

The development time after first crack should be controlled not to exceed 1 minute 30 seconds, but not less than 1 minute. (Recommend using high air flow and reducing heat to control speed)

When smelling the sample spoon, if you can detect strawberry jam aroma around 193°C, it is ready to drop the beans

It is best to control the total time within 11 minutes.

END

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you enjoy the sun-dried, floral-forward style that Flower Queen represents, FrontStreet's range has several close cousins. FrontStreet Ethiopia Flower Queen itself comes from high altitude and fertile soil, with carefully selected ripe cherries and natural processing that layers soft ferment aromas, florals, citrus and mango over honey sweetness, a cocoa edge and a trace of spice, with a thick body and a long finish - especially good as a medium-light roast.

For a daily washed option, FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe offers clear jasmine and bright citrus acidity. Grown around 1,700-2,100 meters with trees above 1,800 meters, it drinks light and elegant with a tea-like quality, like a clean glass of lemon tea.

If you want to explore single-village traceability, FrontStreet Gedingding Cooperative comes from the Worka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe and follows traditional washed processing, giving bright citrus and lemon acidity with jasmine fragrance and none of the usual bitterness.