Characteristics of Coffee Natural Processing Method: Introduction to Africa King, Guji Buku Abaye, and Mulan Natural Process

FrontStreet Coffee-Ethiopia: African King - Flower Queen, Buku Abel, Peony Natural Process Introduction

The King of Africa - Peony / Buku Abel

While the entire world was going crazy for Geisha, Ethiopia quietly produced a remarkable coffee known as "Buku Abel - Peony."

In 2016 and 2017, this coffee took the championship in the natural process category of Ethiopia's national competition two years running. In 2018, it went on to win the championship of the entire African coffee competition. When cupping it, bean hunters said it was like drinking a sip of perfume, or chewing on wild ginger petals - so they named the coffee after the king of flowers: Peony.

Buku Abel - Peony

It carries a very unique floral aroma and saturated flavors of loquat and lychee. The mouth fills with fresh camellia fragrance and sweetness. One sip of the king of flowers, and you experience an incredibly fragrant, layered, and elegant flavor profile.

Buku Abel means "NEW" in the local Ethiopian language, signifying a new place. In this ancient country with more than two thousand years of history and a population of one hundred million, cut off from Asia by the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, these highlands remain relatively undiscovered land awaiting development, despite millennia of culture.

Buku Abel sits in southeastern Ethiopia, in a small village in the Guji Hambela region at an extremely high altitude of 2300m within a primitive forest, home to roughly 30,000 people. Like most Ethiopian coffee gardens, this village grows amid wild, primeval forest. Coffee farming traditions have been passed down through generations: villagers cultivate native bananas and intersperse local native coffee varieties among the banana trees. Most of the village belongs to the DEMSE estate family, who live a leisurely life in the mountains and forests.

Red Cherry Ripe Natural Process

Thanks to the family's thousand years of experience, they handle post-harvest processing with great precision. Every harvest season, residents pick dark red, fully ripe coffee cherries from the primitive forest. The coffee of this region benefits from professional know-how: cherries are picked when they are fiery red and just about to turn black, the point at which their sugar content peaks. They are then sun-dried on bamboo-woven African beds under abundant high-altitude sunshine, with farmers constantly turning and tending the coffee, completing the process after 8-12 days of drying.

Flavor Profile

Strong floral aroma, sweet peach, refreshing blackcurrant, loquat, lychee, honey nectar, with cocoa notes, a refreshing texture, and a fruit-rich aftertaste.

Roast Level

Light roast

Region

GUJI HAMBELA

Altitude

1900-2300M

Processing Method

African bed natural process

Knowledge Expansion

As a rule, washed green beans are greenish-blue in color. After roasting, washed Yirgacheffe sheds more silver skin, with a wrinkled appearance as if it had been soaked in water. Natural process green beans are yellowish-green, and natural process Yirgacheffe sheds less silver skin and looks smoother.

In Summary

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research house that enjoys sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation simply to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month, we hold three coffee events with significant discounts because FrontStreet Coffee wants to offer the lowest prices so more friends can enjoy the best coffee. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's principle for 6 years!

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Geisha - transliterated from the English "Geisha" - is one of the most beloved Arabica varieties. Its singular florals and superb sweet-sour balance have won over countless coffee lovers, while its low yield, weak disease resistance, and demanding cultivation keep prices climbing. If you want a Geisha that tastes great without breaking the bank, it helps to know the main types and their value.

Panama is where Geisha made its name and Ethiopia is where it was born, so every coffee lover should know both. Panama's high altitude, microclimates, and soils gave local Geisha its seductive flavor; in 2003 the Esmeralda estate owner discovered it and sent it to the Best of Panama (BOP) competition, where its one-of-a-kind cup stunned the judges, broke the BOP record with an average cupping score of 94.6, and took the crown - turning Geisha overnight into the champion bean the whole world chased.

FrontStreet Coffee's Esmeralda Red Label (official name "Esmeralda Special") grows at 1600-1800 meters; every batch must cup above 90 points, carries its own independent lot number, and comes entirely from a single small plot - for example, FrontStreet Coffee's Red Label comes from the Jaramillo plot - letting buyers choose a batch to suit their flavor preferences. The Green Label ("Private Collection"), so called for its green background label, blends lots from multiple plots rather than emphasizing detailed plot information, expressing the estate's signature high-altitude Geisha profile at a friendlier price, which makes FrontStreet Coffee's Esmeralda Green Label outstanding value.

For newcomers who want a first taste of the fabled "Geisha flavor," FrontStreet Coffee most often recommends Panama Boquete Geisha - an entry-level Geisha that lets you taste classic high-quality Panama Geisha at an approachable price: its orange-blossom honey character, oolong tea feel, delicate fruity sweetness and acidity, and clearly defined layers.

Ethiopia's Geisha Village estate, 12 miles from the Geisha forest, was founded by a couple on 475 hectares who identified the variety closest to Panama Geisha - essentially the native Geisha - and replanted it on the estate. Its grading is even more intricate than Esmeralda's: three Geisha varieties are grown there (Gori Gesha, Geisha 1931, and Illubabor Forest), with tiers including Gold Label RARITIES, Red Label GROWERS RESERVE, Green Label SINGLE-TERROIR, and Chaka lots, further divided by variety. The Gold Label is Geisha 1931, just 10% of total production, the estate's top coffee outside auction lots and a frequent pick for international competition baristas; FrontStreet Coffee's Gold Label batch uses refined natural processing, revealing complex, rich flavors with a unique dry aroma, lively sip, and lingering finish. The Red Label is Gori Gesha, 15% of production, scoring 88 or above on the SCA 100-point scale, part of the estate's single-terroir series with full traceability - farm block name, variety, and processing date on every lot number.

Closer to home is FrontStreet Coffee's Genji (Genlana Gesha) estate coffee from the Genlana Gesha farm in Yirgacheffe, a rare single-variety estate. It comes from the Genlana processing station, founded in 2014 and run by Mr. Israel Degefa, at the border of Kochere and Genji Abaya, where coffee covers 700 hectares of mostly uncultivated, fertile, shade-drenched land. Fed by rich rainforest soil and ample shade, this Ethiopia-native Gesha shows more layered complexity: hand-picked fully ripe cherries are dried on raised beds for 14-20 days depending on weather. Roasted medium-light, it offers bright citrus acidity, elegant ginger flower aroma, the full sweetness of ripe fruit, a fine, silky mouthfeel, and the signature refined Gesha finish - with pleasant white florals plus vivid orange, guava, and citrus notes and a clearer aftertaste, ideal for Geisha newcomers; advanced drinkers can step up to Geisha Village Gold Label and Red Label.

For brewing Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee suggests a medium-light, floral-fruity style: grind to 78% pass-through on a China #20 sieve (about fine-granulated sugar), water at 91°C, 15g of coffee in a small Hario V60 at a 1:16 ratio, brewed in three pours - 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then a gentle circular pour to 125g, then more water once the bed drains to half, continuing to 225g; total extraction time around 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds.