Luckin Coffee Launches Full SOE Series: Which One is the Best? Colombia Hacienda El Paraiso 96-Hour Double Anaerobic Process Coffee Beans Arrive!

Ever since Luckin Coffee launched its Guigui (Flower Champion) SOE series, the line has stirred real controversy. One camp of netizens praises Luckin for making specialty coffee more accessible through affordable pricing; the other condemns it for wasting such high-quality beans and asks whether the practice will drive up the price of Guigui coffee. Li Guoqing, founder of Dangdang.com, even stated on various social media platforms that Luckin is engaging in monopolistic practices.

After the much-anticipated Guigui SOE series officially launched on January 4th, Luckin went through over 90 tons of Guigui beans in less than 10 days, and the series sold out almost immediately. By mid-February, Luckin had resumed Guigui SOE supply, claiming it had "intercepted" 39.2 tons of Guigui 5.0 beans via maritime transport. According to Luckin, it purchased 129.6 tons of Guigui beans in total—making it the coffee brand with the largest procurement of Guigui beans in China.

For a chain brand, 39.2 tons does not last long, and someone would eventually inherit the "territory" the Guigui series established. On March 21, Luckin officially announced that the second batch of Guigui was nearly depleted and that the Guigui series would be phased out.

At the same time, Luckin revealed the successor: the 96-hour double anaerobic fermentation beans from Hacienda El Paraíso (Paradise Estate), which has multiple times graced the stage of Colombia's LOD (Land of Diversity) National Coffee Quality Competition. These beans reportedly reach SCA 85+ specialty grade. In other words, the Paradise Estate SOE series is on its way.

Hacienda El Paraíso's Specialty Processing

Serious coffee watchers already know Colombia's Hacienda El Paraíso. Last year's bestselling "Strawberry Yogurt" coffee came from this estate, and its success is credited to more than a decade of continuous research into coaxing ever more refined flavors from the bean.

This time, Luckin acquired beans processed through 96-hour double anaerobic fermentation—one of the experimental special processing methods devised by the estate's owner. The procedure is extremely intricate. To prevent over-fermentation, each stage takes place in specially designed sealed containers, with the whole fermentation spanning 96 hours, and the surrounding temperature must be monitored continuously—all to build more flavor layers into the beans.

Flavor Profile and Consumer Reception

According to reports, the bean shows bright lemongrass flavors and fruity wine aromas across diverse layers of fresh, clean flavors. In keeping with Luckin's usual practice, the beans were roasted medium-dark for stable output across all stores. How does Paradise Estate coffee perform after that medium-dark roast? Let's hear Luckin's version first:

Since the series had not fully launched yet, here is what netizens lucky enough to taste it early had to say:

Future Plans for the Guigui Series

Recent reports say Luckin will keep expanding the Guigui SOE series. In mid-February, Luckin representatives met with the Ethiopian Ambassador to China, hoping to procure more Guigui beans with the embassy's facilitation and support and to launch a Guigui PLUS SOE series in the second half of 2022—when Guigui PLUS green bean purchases will exceed 250 tons, expected to make Luckin the brand with the largest global procurement of Guigui PLUS green beans.

Sources note that Guigui PLUS is not the new 2022-harvest Guigui 6.0 beans, but another sun-dried Ethiopian heirloom variety, also from the Buku Abel processing plant in Sidamo; domestic green bean suppliers have nicknamed it "Guigui Queen." The new-harvest Guigui 6.0 beans have already arrived at port, so there is no need to worry about shortages or price hikes from Luckin's "monopoly"—Luckin apparently has no intention of buying up the new harvest.

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Colombia's range runs from bright and fruity to deep and full-bodied, so if the Paradise Estate anaerobic story tempts you, FrontStreet Coffee has you covered. The FrontStreet Sidra from Finca La Frontera in Colombia is processed by anaerobic natural fermentation—low-oxygen fermentation that coaxes out extra tropical fruit character—so at a medium-light roast you get passion fruit, grape, apricot, and dried-fruit aromas across pour-over, cold brew, drip bags, or moka pot. For a classic take on the origin, the FrontStreet washed Huila comes from the country's most famous specialty region—mountain slopes above 1,500 meters where Colombia's most important rivers converge—and its medium-dark roast highlights dark chocolate and nutty sweetness with moderate body, working equally well for pour-over, French press, moka pot, or espresso. And for home espresso setups, the FrontStreet Premium Blend marries Brazilian cream-and-nut softness with Colombian dark chocolate bitterness for a dense, golden crema that loves milk.