Which Ethiopian Coffee Brands Are Best? Introduction to Hambela Coffee's Characteristics and Flavor Profile

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FrontStreet Coffee - Sidamo Horse Champion Coffee Introduction

Coffee is categorized by different growing regions, primarily including Indonesia, Colombia, and Ethiopia as the main producing areas. Each region produces beans with distinct flavor profiles. While some fixed coffee varieties can be consumed as single-origin coffee, most coffees have varying degrees of flavor defects. To compensate for these shortcomings, several coffee beans with different characteristics are blended to create harmonious and deep flavors.

Horse Champion Coffee

Guji is the largest coffee-producing region in Ethiopia, and Horse Champion comes from one of Guji's sub-regions, Hambella. The DW Coffee Export, which Horse Champion belongs to, has a core production area called Dimtu in Hambella. Within the Dimtu area, there are four estate processing plants, but only the natural processed coffee produced and processed at Buku Abel Estate is Horse Champion, which is why Buku Abel Estate is also known as the "Horse Champion Estate."

True to its name, "Horse Champion" evokes the image of "the most beautiful among hundreds of flowers," having won professional honors such as the Ethiopian Coffee Competition Championship and the African Green Bean Competition Runner-up. It features rich floral aromas that are natural and pure, with mellow red wine and tropical fruit flavors, complemented by a bright juice-like sweetness and acidity.

Hambella is a premium micro-region in Ethiopia's larger coffee-producing area of Guji (GUJI), administratively belonging to the Oromia region. To the west, Hambella faces Yirgacheffe's Kochore across mountains, while to the southeast, east, and north, it borders Guji's Shakiso, Uraga, and Kercha sub-regions. It is one of Ethiopia's highest altitude coffee sub-regions (Harrar is Ethiopia's highest altitude main producing region). The Horse Champion processing plant is located in Buku Abel village at an altitude of 2200 meters, featuring fertile humus-rich reddish-brown soil. The significant temperature difference between day and night extends the growth cycle of coffee cherries. Fully ripe red cherries are harvested and processed using refined natural methods. The coffee is dried on African raised beds with a limited thickness of 2-3 layers. Based on color changes during drying, manual sorting is performed twice daily for the first 3 days, with 10% being sorted out each time. Afterwards, the beans are turned every three hours, and covered during noon and night to avoid moisture from rain and dew, precisely controlling the fermentation process. The entire process lasts up to 21 days, creating Horse Champion's unique flavor profile.

Coffee Information

Region: Ethiopia Sidamo

Estate: Buku Abel Village/Hambella

Variety: Ethiopian Heirloom

Altitude: 2200m

Grade: G1

Processing: Natural

Flavor: Rose, strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit

Knowledge Extension

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. As a country downstream of the Nile River, it not only enjoys abundant water resources but also benefits from the favor of the sun god "Apollo" as it lies in the tropical region. Perhaps it's heaven's blessing to the people here that Ethiopia produces exceptionally high-quality coffee, including the original variety of the world's most expensive coffee bean "Geisha," which also originates from here.

Summary

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