What are the Characteristics of Sun-Dried Guji Coffee Beans? Introduction to Sun-Dried Sidamo Guji Features

Ethiopian coffees are predominantly characterized by floral and fruity acidity, with light and bright flavors that make one feel as if drinking a cup of fruit tea. FrontStreet Coffee's natural-processed Guanyin coffee is particularly sweet and fruity, with abundant fruit flavors and a honey-like sweetness that lingers in the mouth, taking you on a journey through Hainan's fruit world.

Ethiopia has two particularly famous coffee-producing regions, both of which are specialty coffee regions. One is FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe, whose washed Yirgacheffe coffee represents Ethiopian coffee and serves as an entry bean for many into the world of specialty coffee; the other is FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo, which primarily uses natural processing methods, with FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Guanyin coffee being the most famous representative.

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, but due to geographical features, climate and temperature, soil microelements, and other factors among different regions, the flavors vary. To allow everyone to taste high-quality coffees from various Ethiopian regions, FrontStreet Coffee has acquired over a dozen single-origin coffees from this country alone, including both natural and washed varieties.

The Origin of the Guanyin Coffee Name

In 2017, Ethiopia's DW green coffee company submitted their coffee beans to the Taste Of Harvest (TOH) competition hosted by the African Fine Coffee Association. Their natural-processed batch won the TOH Ethiopia championship. This batch of green beans was named "Guanyin" (meaning "champion"). Beijing-based Hongshun Company introduced Guanyin coffee to China and named it "Guanyin," expressing high expectations.

In fact, internationally, Guanyin coffee has only one name: Hambella. This comes from a small producing area in Sidamo's Guji region. If we pay close attention, we'll find that only natural-processed beans from the Buku Abel processing plant are referred to by baristas as "Guanyin." To put it plainly, the "Guanyin coffee" we speak of is actually a traditional natural-processed G1 coffee bean from the Hambella region, with "Buku Abel" being its more precise traceability information, located in Dimtu town.

After "Guanyin" became famous, to meet the surge in market demand, DW company established five independent green coffee drying processing stations in Hambella Wamena Wereda, all located within the core Dimtu town area. Besides the original Buku Abel, four other small villages—Buku Saysay, Haro Soresa, Tirtiro Goye, and Seke Bokosa—also joined in natural-processed coffee bean production. It is reported that DW company's annual production of "Guanyin" now reaches tens of millions of tons.

Starting from the 2018 harvest season, Guanyin (natural-processed G1 coffee beans) from the same growing area and processing station has already shown some flavor changes. FrontStreet Coffee discovered through cupping that although the 2018 and 2019 Guanyin had flavors similar to the 2017 Guanyin, they were inferior to the "first-generation Guanyin" in terms of body, aftertaste, and other mouthfeel aspects. Therefore, to continue marketing this natural-processed coffee from Hambella while creating a distinction from the original version, domestic green coffee trading companies created an X.0 suffix system based on the post-2017 timeline—for example, the 2018 batch was called "Guanyin 2.0," the 2019 production was called "Guanyin 3.0 and 3.1"... and last year's release was "Guanyin 7.0," and so on. This way, we can identify which year's batch the Guanyin we purchased belongs to through this suffix.

About the Sidamo Coffee Region

As one of Ethiopia's specialty coffee regions, Sidamo borders another specialty coffee region, Yirgacheffe. Sidamo is not just a coffee-producing region but also represents a coffee brand. In 2006, Starbucks applied for the Sidamo trademark, which caused dissatisfaction in Ethiopia's coffee industry and led to resistance. This trademark dispute lasted two years, ending with Starbucks withdrawing its trademark application. Both parties reached an agreement, with Starbucks continuing to purchase and sell Sidamo coffee beans through cooperation.

The Sidamo region is located in southern Ethiopia, extending east to the Arsi and Bale administrative regions and west to the Gamogofa administrative region. Sidamo coffee is cultivated at altitudes between 1400m-2000m. The coffee flavors produced in the Sidamo region are very diverse because different areas have different soil compositions, regional microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties, creating obvious differences and characteristics in coffee produced in each area. According to Ethiopia's administrative divisions, there are four levels: Region, Zone, Woreda, and Kebele, which are equivalent to China's provinces, cities, districts, and streets.

Coffee is also a type of agricultural crop, so flavor changes are closely related to climate and environment. Sidamo's coffee flavors are very diverse—different soil types, microclimates, and countless native coffee varieties create obvious differences and characteristics in coffee produced by each town. The Guji region used to belong to the Sidamo region but was established as a new independent region by the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) in 2010. The Guji region is located southeast of Yirgacheffe and is an area with complex topographical changes including towering mountains, valleys, and plains. The region's geology consists of fertile black soil (Vertisol) with a soil depth of nearly two meters and an average altitude of over 1800 meters. The significant day-night temperature differences created by geographical features provide the local area with all the terroir conditions needed to produce high-quality specialty coffee.

Guanyin Coffee Varieties

Ethiopia is a magical country because it is the birthplace of Arabica coffee—the Kaffa Forest is where it all began. To be precise, Ethiopia's Kaffa Zone is the earliest place where coffee was discovered, where countless wild Arabica coffee mother trees grow in the cloud forest areas. FrontStreet Coffee's Frontsteet Kaffa Forest coffee beans come from this lush wild forest and are processed using the washed method, always presenting citrus aromas reminiscent of orange peel and green tea notes when brewed.

Getting back to the main topic, the Guanyin coffee variety is called Heirloom, which translates to "native variety" in Chinese and is unique to Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, the garden farming system is the survival mode for the vast majority of small coffee farmers, and Heirloom native varieties come from the "unnamed varieties" in their backyards. The coffee trees might have been left by the first owner of the land, or shared among neighbors, or possibly grown from seeds brought from another producing area. Various coffee plants are intercropped with other economic crops on the land and are harvested and sold when mature.

Therefore, Heirloom does not refer to a specific coffee variety but represents the blending of green beans from the producing area—the coffee combines the harvests of multiple small farmers during the same period and is mixed together, with a single batch potentially covering dozens or hundreds of undifferentiated varieties. Because of the differences between varieties and the different mixing methods each time, these coffee beans vary in particle size, dimensions, and shape—some large, some small, some long, some round—which can be understood as "blended batches."

Ethiopian Coffee Grades

Before the establishment of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), Ethiopian coffee export grades were determined by the CLU (Cupping and Liquoring Unit) under the Ministry of Agriculture, primarily based on the number of defective beans in 300g. The grading standards are as shown in the table below.

FrontStreet Coffee's Guanyin G1 natural beans undergo many processes. During bean selection, there is an additional screening, and the standards for each screening are the highest. G1 grade natural coffee is a luxury-level specialty product. FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Sidamo Guanyin Natural G1 coffee uses Ethiopian coffee native varieties and is grown in areas at altitudes between 2200 to 2500 meters. It features rose floral aromas, peach flavors, and black tea aftertaste, with an excellent finish.

Guanyin Coffee Bean Processing Methods

The processing method for FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe coffee is the most ancient natural processing method. However, because early natural-processed coffee beans were mostly dried flat on the ground, they inevitably absorbed earthy and dusty off-flavors, coupled with a lack of proper screening, resulting in generally poor quality natural beans. In 1972, Ethiopia introduced Central and South American washing technology to improve coffee quality, making FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe jasmine floral and citrus-lemon freshness clearer and brighter, elevating it to become one of the world's representative specialty coffees. The representative washed coffee is Yirgacheffe coffee, while the representative natural-processed coffee is FrontStreet Coffee's Guanyin coffee from Sidamo.

The natural processing method in the Sidamo region is very meticulous. During the coffee harvest period, only ripe coffee fruits are picked. The harvested coffee fruits are uniform in size, similar in ripeness, and free from other impurities. During processing, the first step is strict hand-sorting to remove defective beans, then the red coffee fruits are spread evenly on raised wooden beds or entire trellis frames for natural drying, preventing the coffee fruits from developing mold or absorbing unpleasant earthy smells during the drying process. During sun exposure, the fruits are constantly turned to ensure even drying and uniform moisture loss; every three to five days, farmers manually screen out defective or moldy beans. After the fruit skins dry and harden, a hulling machine is used to remove the dried, hard fruit skins. After obtaining the green coffee beans, farmers conduct one final screening in pursuit of perfect flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that washed coffee has a clean and bright taste, while natural processing adds aroma and sweetness to the original flavor profile. Washing better reflects the local coffee terroir, so FrontStreet Coffee chooses FrontStreet Coffee's Washed Yirgacheffe as the representative coffee for Ethiopia.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

To fully extract the rich layers of Guanyin coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses higher water temperature and finer grind for extraction, but to avoid over-extraction caused by high temperatures, we use faster-flowing filter cups, such as the V60. The V60 filter cup has a 60° conical shape, and the conical angle allows coffee grounds to be concentrated, while water injection automatically converges toward the center of the filter cup, ensuring sufficient contact time between water and coffee grounds to extract the appropriate coffee liquid. Additionally, the ribs on the inside of the V60 filter cup extend clockwise in a spiral from bottom to top, creating enough space between the filter paper and the filter cup, resulting in good water flow. Combined with the large hole at the bottom, the water flow is relatively faster than many other filter cups.

The specific brewing parameters FrontStreet Coffee uses are: V60 filter cup, water temperature 90°C, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g of coffee, medium-fine grind (80% pass rate through China #20 standard sieve).

[FrontStreet Coffee Natural Guanyin 5.0 Coffee Flavor] Very distinct floral and fruit aromas, with notes of citrus, passion fruit, strawberry, oolong tea, light fermented wine aroma, and high sweetness.

FrontStreet Coffee brewing recommendations:

Regarding coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects coffee flavor. Therefore, the coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer receives the freshest coffee when they place an order. The coffee degassing period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it's at its optimal flavor peak.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee kindly reminds you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for a degassing period, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide buildup in the packaging also helps mellow the coffee flavor, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly because it oxidizes relatively quickly after exposure to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate faster and won't be as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding them fresh before brewing to better experience the coffee's flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee also offers single-origin coffees from different Ethiopian regions, such as: FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Kochere, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Chelichele, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry, FrontStreet Coffee's Sidamo Guanyin, FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Village Red Label, and FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Village Gold Label. Everyone can experience the coffee flavors from different regions.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

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