Sidamo Coffee Bean Flavor Characteristics and Taste Profile - Sidamo Flower Champion Coffee 6.0 Pour-Over Brewing Flavor Description

The Rise of Sidamo and the Story of Flower Champion Coffee

Coffee as an extremely popular beverage worldwide, some people enjoy the mellow richness of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, while others appreciate the bright acidity of African coffee beans. Many young customers visiting FrontStreet Coffee stores often find themselves standing before the bean display, overwhelmed by the dazzling array of coffee beans from various origins, processing methods, and varieties. Even when looking at African region coffees, they don't know where to start.

Ethiopia: The Birthplace of Coffee

As the birthplace of coffee and a genetic library of coffee varieties, Ethiopia's vast landscape hides numerous delicious coffees. Ethiopia has many coffee-producing regions, among which Harar, Yirgacheffe, and Sidamo are world-renowned. In China, many coffee enthusiasts' introduction to specialty coffee often comes from washed Yirgacheffe coffee and natural processed Sidamo coffee.

Unlike the fresh and natural characteristics of washed Yirgacheffe, natural processed Sidamo coffee has gained a large following due to its wild and rich berry cream flavors.

At the same time, like Yirgacheffe, the name Sidamo has long been world-famous. On the international stage, Sidamo frequently appears at the forefront of award lists in various coffee competitions. In recent years, Sidamo has been notably recognized in green bean competitions such as COE (Cup of Excellence) and TOH (Taste of Harvest).

Before Yirgacheffe became famous for its fresh floral aromas, it was part of the Sidamo region. Before Guji became a rising star in green bean competitions and was established as an independent region in 2010, it also belonged to Sidamo. On FrontStreet Coffee's bean shelf, there's a coffee bean that won the washed category championship in the 2020 TOH competition Ethiopia region - produced in the Uraga region of Guji. Its flavor is reminiscent of honey pomelo green tea - fresh and unique, receiving much praise from many coffee enthusiasts.

Of course, the Sidamo coffee region is vast and resource-rich, with numerous sub-regions. Many who have tasted Panama Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda have experienced the significant differences between different plots, let alone different sub-regions. Under Sidamo, Uraga and Bensa regions each have their own distinctive characteristics.

The Emergence of Flower Champion Coffee

Among these, the Hambela region has received much attention. Due to a collaboration between an internet celebrity and Luckin Coffee, people across China became acquainted with Flower Champion coffee beans. For a time, Flower Champion became the rising star, with many customers visiting FrontStreet Coffee stores immediately asking for a bag of Flower Champion coffee beans.

Of course, many customers come to ask FrontStreet Coffee's baristas about Flower Champion coffee beans, while others want to learn more about them. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce this Flower Champion coffee bean to everyone.

In 2017, Ethiopia's DW green bean company sent a natural processed coffee bean from Hambela's Buku Abel processing station to participate in that year's TOH competition. Because this coffee bean's berry cream flavor was so rich, it captivated the international judges and won the natural processed category championship in the TOH competition Ethiopia region that year.

Beijing Yisheng Green Bean Company introduced the same award-winning batch to China. After tasting its flavor, they named this coffee bean "Flower Champion" (花魁), meaning "the leader of all flowers," with high hopes that it would become the next famous specialty representative like Geisha.

In the same year, at the World Brewers Cup China region competition, contestant Li Jianfei used the same award-winning batch of Flower Champion coffee beans and achieved second place. In recent years, due to Geisha's unique flavor, many competition contestants have chosen to use Panama Geisha coffee beans. In an era when Geisha coffee beans dominated competitions, Li Jianfei used Ethiopia's Flower Champion coffee beans to surpass many Panama Geisha users, making Flower Champion coffee beans famous in the coffee community.

However, Flower Champion coffee beans truly became popular earlier this year when Li Guoqing criticized Luckin for launching their Flower Champion SOE series. Suddenly, more people came to FrontStreet Coffee to inquire about Flower Champion coffee beans' history and flavor profile.

Of course, as 2022 arrived, some customers still ask if there are Flower Champion 4.0 coffee beans available. It's not hard to see that some customers don't fully understand the naming convention of Flower Champion coffee beans. Since the birth of Flower Champion coffee beans in 2017, the "Flower Champion" IP has been managed by Beijing Yisheng Green Bean Company's Dali branch and has now developed to its sixth generation product.

2017 was the starting year for Flower Champion; 2018 brought Flower Champion 2.0; 2019, Flower Champion 3.0; 2020, Flower Champion 4.0; 2021, Flower Champion 5.0; and 2022, naturally, Flower Champion 6.0. It's clear that the Flower Champion series is named using the "Flower Champion X.0" format. Over the years, FrontStreet Coffee has timely updated with new seasonal Flower Champion coffee beans each year.

The Unique Characteristics of Flower Champion

Generally, only natural processed coffee beans produced and processed at Buku Abel can be called "Flower Champion." The place where Flower Champion is grown has high altitudes of over 2000 meters, with coffee trees surrounded by tropical plants like sugarcane and bananas that provide appropriate shade. Such growing conditions create Flower Champion coffee that is sweet, sour, pleasant, and smooth. The natural processing method further enhances the sweet aroma of these coffee beans.

However, coffee is fundamentally an agricultural crop, easily affected by uncertain factors such as climate and rainfall each year. Therefore, it's very normal for coffee beans to show different flavors each year. When FrontStreet Coffee received the new season's Flower Champion 6.0 coffee beans, they found many flat beans, shell beans, and broken beans in the green coffee - signs of unsatisfactory bean appearance.

FrontStreet Coffee's roaster sorted out 20% to 30% of defective beans before roasting. Even after roasting, many irregular coffee beans could still be found in the roasted beans, more than in previous years.

Through cupping, they discovered that this Flower Champion 6.0 had flavors of berries, honey, and passion fruit, with prominent sweetness.

However, due to the high defect rate of this batch of Flower Champion 6.0, Frontsteet found another new season Flower Champion coffee bean through Hambela's Buku processing station. This coffee bean also comes from the Hambela region, processed using natural methods by the Buku processing station, with full bean appearance similar to previous years' Flower Champion coffee beans. Through cupping, this new season Flower Champion coffee showed citrus acidity, honey sweetness, light white floral notes, and strong juice-like qualities.

Flower Champion 8.0: The Latest Evolution

Unconsciously, Flower Champion has already entered its 8th year since debut, and the 2024 latest seasonal batch follows the long-standing naming convention, launched as "Flower Champion 8.0." Trying the new Flower Champion has become a top priority for loyal fans. To present Sidamo region's exquisite fruit and floral flavors while maintaining the coffee's caramelized aroma, Frontsteet's roaster used a medium-light roast to bring out the best in these beans.

FrontStreet Coffee: Sidamo · Flower Champion 8.0 Coffee Beans

Country: Ethiopia | Region: Sidamo · Guji | Altitude: 2250-2350 meters | Variety: Local native varieties

Processing Method: Natural processed

Flavor: Floral, jackfruit, dried fruit, apricot, juicy

FrontStreet Coffee adheres to the principle of "freshly roasted good coffee," shipping coffee beans roasted within 5 days to maximize the rich flavors. By the time you receive them, they've already undergone a 4-7 day degassing period, reaching their peak flavor.

Brewing Recommendations

Brewing Parameters:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Dose: 15 grams

Ratio: 1:15

Grind: 80% pass-through through China standard #20 sieve

FrontStreet Coffee suggests a 30-second bloom during brewing. After coffee beans are roasted, they're filled with gas. The bloom promotes the release of carbon dioxide, allowing for more complete flavor extraction.

First pour 30 grams of hot water for a 30-second bloom. Then, starting from the center, pour in a fine stream slowly spiraling out to 125 grams. When the water level in the dripper drops to just above the coffee bed, continue spiraling to 225 grams. Total extraction time: 2 minutes.

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473