What Variety is the Horse Champion Coffee Bean and Why is it Called Horse Champion? What are the Differences and Characteristics Between Horse Champion and Geisha Coffee Beans

For a period of time, a question emerged that caused quite a stir among many coffee enthusiasts. What exactly is the relationship between Huakui Coffee and Gesha Coffee? Is Huakui Coffee actually Gesha Coffee?

The reason for these questions stems from a social media influencer who confused concepts when explaining the two. "Huakui" means "the first among flowers" and also refers to Japanese geishas, whose pronunciation is "Geisha" (or "Gesha"), which happens to be identical to the English word for Gesha coffee. This led to the claim that "Huakui is Gesha."

FrontStreet Coffee has written multiple articles about Gesha Coffee and Huakui Coffee. In fact, the coffee bean varieties of Gesha and Huakui are not the same. Additionally, Huakui coffee beans are sun-dried coffee beans produced at the Buku Abel processing station in the Hambela sub-region of Ethiopia's Sidamo region. When we generally refer to Gesha, we are specifically referring to a coffee variety.

Although FrontStreet Coffee's bean list is extensive and varied, the information for each coffee bean is clearly marked. When friends purchase coffee beans at FrontStreet Coffee, each package is labeled with information about the coffee beans, such as origin, growing altitude, variety, processing method, and flavor descriptions.

Coffee Bean Varieties

The outer packaging of Huakui coffee beans also clearly indicates that Huakui's variety is local indigenous. Some friends might not be familiar with the term "local indigenous variety." Huakui coffee's origin - Ethiopia - is recognized as the birthplace of coffee, so coffee varieties are extremely diverse. Additionally, Ethiopia's local economic conditions are generally average, lacking sufficient funds to extensively research coffee varieties. Furthermore, the Ethiopian government is unwilling to disclose information about native coffee tree varieties to protect them. Thus, these lesser-known coffee varieties are collectively referred to as "local indigenous varieties."

As for Gesha coffee, the Gesha variety was discovered in the Gesha forest of Ethiopia in the 1930s and later sent to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya. In 1936, it was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania. In 1953, it traveled across the ocean to Costa Rica in Central America and was numbered "T2722". Due to coffee leaf rust sweeping across Central America at the time, the Gesha coffee variety was introduced to Panama as a coffee variety resistant to leaf rust.

In other words, Huakui coffee and Gesha coffee are two completely different coffee varieties. Huakui coffee's variety is Ethiopian local indigenous; while Gesha coffee's variety is the Gesha variety.

Why is Huakui Coffee Called "Huakui"

Friends who understand coffee bean naming methods generally notice that coffee beans are usually named after their origin. Huakui coffee beans come from the Hambela sub-region of Sidamo, so why are Huakui coffee beans called "Huakui" instead of "Hambela"?

Actually, this is related to Huakui's rise to fame. In 2017, Ethiopian green bean exporter DW company sent sun-dried coffee beans produced at Buku Abel in Hambela, which they managed, to participate in the TOH (Taste of Harvest) green bean competition. Its rich berry cream flavor captivated the judges, winning the championship in the sun-dried category of the Ethiopian region that year.

In the same year, Beijing green bean exporter Hongshun introduced the same batch of coffee beans to the Chinese market. Due to Huakui's exceptionally outstanding flavor, with slight improvements in post-processing methods, it had the potential to replace Gesha, so it was given high hopes and named "Huakui." That year, Gesha coffee beans were prevalent at the World Coffee Brewing Championship China region. Competitor Li Jianfei won second place in that year's brewing competition using Huakui coffee beans from the same batch as the 2017 TOH sun-dried champion. This made Huakui coffee beans shine and broke the legend of Gesha.

Careful friends might notice that on FrontStreet Coffee's bean shelf, there are two different Huakui coffee beans labeled "Huakui" and "Huakui 5.0." Huakui 5.0 actually belongs to the "Huakui X.0" series, with 2018 being Huakui 2.0, 2019 being Huakui 3.0, and 2020 being Huakui 4.0, so naturally, the 2021 production season is Huakui 5.0. The 2022 production season has arrived, and the new batch of Huakui coffee beans will be named Huakui 6.0. FrontStreet Coffee has pre-ordered this batch at the first opportunity, which will arrive in April. Friends who like Huakui coffee can pay close attention to FrontStreet Coffee.

The other Huakui coffee labeled "Huakui" is small-grain Huakui. FrontStreet Coffee found some smaller-grain Huakui coffee beans in the 2018 and 2019 Huakui coffee beans. Later, through cupping, it was discovered that these small-grain Huakui coffee beans were precisely the source of Huakui coffee's aroma.

Huakui Coffee Flavor Characteristics

Huakui coffee has captured the hearts of many coffee connoisseurs with its rich berry cream flavor. Such outstanding deliciousness is closely related to its growing environment and processing method. Huakui coffee beans in the Hambela region of Guji, only sun-dried coffee produced and processed by the Buku Abel estate can be called "Huakui," so Buku Abel estate is also known as the "Huakui Estate." The area where Huakui is grown is surrounded by sugarcane and banana. Under high-altitude climate conditions, this creates a smooth taste for Huakui coffee, with berry acidity and fermentation wine notes brought by sun-drying processing.

Huakui's flavor changes every year, mainly because coffee is actually an agricultural product, and it's impossible to grow coffee with the same flavor every year, as agricultural products are easily affected by uncertain factors such as climate and rainfall. Therefore, it's very normal for coffee bean flavors to vary each year.

There are also subtle differences between the small-grain Huakui and Huakui 5.0 on FrontStreet Coffee's bean shelf. The small-grain Huakui is closer to the strawberry cream flavor of that year's TOH sun-dried category champion; while Huakui 5.0 leans more towards the Guji region's berry, floral, and tea-like flavor descriptions.

Gesha Coffee Flavor Characteristics

After Gesha coffee became famous, coffee regions around the world competed to grow Gesha coffee. But when mentioning Gesha coffee flavor, it generally refers to Panamanian Gesha. Due to the Gesha coffee tree's brittle branches and low yield, it initially did not receive favor from farmers. However, it later won the championship at the 2004 BOP (Best of Panama) competition and broke the auction record. From then on, people recognized the strength of Gesha coffee.

Esmeralda Estate has been dedicated and responsible in this matter, being both the discoverer of Gesha coffee and the promoter of Gesha flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's bean shelf offers Esmeralda Estate's Red Label, Green Label, and Volcanic Rock to help people gradually understand Gesha flavor. The typical citrus tones, jasmine fragrance, and honey sweetness in Gesha coffee flavor instantly transport coffee beginners to heaven.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Suggestions

Since both Huakui coffee and Gesha coffee need to highlight their high-quality acidity and rich aroma, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters use a medium-light roast degree when roasting. FrontStreet Coffee's baristas use a finer grind degree when brewing these two coffee beans to increase the contact area between coffee powder particles and water; higher water temperature is used to accelerate the dissolution rate of substances in coffee into water.

Dripper: Hario V60
Water Temperature: 91 degrees Celsius
Dose: 15 grams
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Grind: 80% pass rate through China Standard No. 20 sieve

Pour 30 grams of hot water to completely wet the coffee grounds and bloom for 30 seconds. Starting from the center point, pour in a fine stream and slowly circle to 125 grams for segmentation. When the water level in the dripper drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, continue circling and pouring to 225 grams. The total extraction time is approximately 2 minutes.

FrontStreet Coffee has received some questions from friends wondering why there's no bulging during blooming. Blooming is to let carbon dioxide in the coffee powder escape, making the later water injection extraction more stable. After coffee beans are roasted, a large amount of carbon dioxide gas accumulates inside the beans. As the gas escapes, the flavor also tends to stabilize. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are roasted within 5 days, and when they reach customers, they have already undergone a 4-7 day bean resting period, with optimal flavor.

Some friends who don't have coffee grinding equipment at home generally request grinding service. Here, FrontStreet Coffee needs to remind everyone that after coffee beans are ground into powder, the degassing rate increases, flavor compounds easily volatilize, causing the tasting period to be significantly shortened. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing.

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473