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What?! Hua Kui Coffee Beans from Brazil??

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Last night while scrolling through my phone, I came across this post: Today I saw an image in my social feed where a coffee novice bought this bag of beans (image below), and I couldn't help but respond. If you're ignorant, you can learn. If you're going to work in this industry, please show some sincerity. This kind of deception is simply insulting. To colleagues who bought this bean,

Uncovering the Truth About Coffee Bean Information

Last night, while scrolling through my phone, I came across this post:

"Today I saw a picture on my social media feed - a coffee novice bought this bag of beans (see below), and I couldn't help myself. If you're ignorant, you can learn. If you want to work in this industry, please show some sincerity. This kind of deception is simply insulting. To colleagues who bought this bean, I advise you to change careers. Stop selling coffee. I feel sorry for the friends who bought this bag of beans."

- zz's Coffee World

After seeing this picture, my reaction as a writer was:

For a moment, I didn't know where to start... everything was wrong, yet the information above was presented so "seriously." As a complete coffee novice, one would certainly be misled by such "serious" coffee information and believe it without doubt.

From a recent coffee professional's "forcing" statement that linked Guanyu coffee beans with Gesha coffee beans, to this direct fabrication of coffee origin information by associating a bunch of unrelated information with Guanyu... We won't speculate on what these two colleagues were thinking, but before understanding the product itself, don't spread incorrect knowledge to consumers. If you don't know, read more books. If you don't understand, don't speak carelessly, just as the meme below says:

The Origin and Naming of Guanyu Coffee Beans

First, let's understand the origin and naming of Guanyu coffee beans.

In the 2017 TOH (Taste Of Harvest) green bean competition, a natural-processed batch of Ethiopian heirloom variety coffee beans from the "Buku Abel" processing station in the Hambella region won the natural processing category championship with its strong strawberry and cream aroma. At that time, this coffee bean had no name until the same year when the championship batch of green beans was imported by a Beijing green bean trader and named "Guanyu." The name Guanyu is specifically used to refer to this bean that won the natural processing category championship in 2017.

After winning the championship in 2017, DW Company increased the number of processing stations in the core Hambella region of Dimtu, including "Buku Abel," "Buku Saysay," "Haro Soresa," and "Tirtiro Goye," with an annual coffee production of about 1,100 tons. In terms of growing region and processing stations, only those from the processing area of the "Buku Abel" processing station covered the original small-producing area where the natural-processed coffee bean "Guanyu" was produced. Subsequently, Guanyu 2.0 was launched in 2018, Guanyu 3.0 and 3.1 in 2019, Guanyu 4.0 in 2020, Guanyu 5.0 in 2021, and the latest 2022 production season's Guanyu 6.0 is currently queuing at local ports waiting for shipping/sea transport for export and has not yet arrived in China.

In addition to the X.0 series of Guanyu, FrontStreet Coffee found that the Guanyu beans from 2018 and 2019 had similar flavors to the 2017 Guanyu, but their body and aftertaste were not as good as the 2017 Guanyu. By comparing different batches of Guanyu, FrontStreet Coffee realized that the main source of the 2017 Guanyu's aroma was some particularly small-grained varieties in the Guanyu coffee beans. Similar small-grained coffee also appeared in the Guanyu beans from 2018 and 2019, sometimes appearing in several bags out of ten sacks. In 2019, we confirmed this information and informed the green bean supplier. Starting from 2020, Guanyu was split into two types: 4.0 and small-grained Guanyu. Therefore, small-grained Guanyu does not belong to the [X.0] series.

Analyzing the Problems in the Coffee Bean Information

Next, let's examine what problems exist in the coffee bean information from the first picture.

"Origin: Brazil (Guji Hambella)"

Brazil is in South and Central America and is the largest producer of Arabica coffee beans. Guji Hambella is in Africa and is one of the sub-regions (Hambella) within Ethiopia's coffee-producing regions (Guji).

Associating two completely unrelated places from different continents and noting "Guji Hambella" is the most shocking thing seen in the picture. From another perspective, this roaster knows that to name coffee beans as Guanyu, one of the most important conditions must be met: they must come from the Guji Hambella region.

However! This does not mean that all coffee beans from the Guji Hambella region in Ethiopia, Africa, can be called Guanyu coffee beans! Coffee beans that can be named "Guanyu" must be Ethiopian heirloom variety coffee beans that are natural-processed at the Buku Abel processing station under DW Company in the Guji Hambella region of Ethiopia.

"Variety: Arabica (Typica)"

The coffee tree species determines the coffee bean variety. According to the information given in the first picture, this bag of coffee beans belongs to the Typica variety, but as mentioned above, Guanyu coffee beans must be Ethiopian heirloom variety coffee beans.

So what's the difference between Typica and Ethiopian heirloom varieties? If we were to discuss this in detail, this article would become very long! So here we only discuss the most fundamental difference. Typica is a single coffee variety and one of the oldest coffee varieties. The Ethiopian heirloom variety does not refer to a specific variety but is a general term for the natural mixture of many coffee varieties.

- Ethiopian coffee regions

As the origin of coffee varieties, Ethiopia has too many coffee varieties. It's like a natural gene bank for Arabica. On one hand, there are numerous varieties, making identification and classification difficult. On the other hand, the Ethiopian government, for protection reasons, is unwilling to disclose information about these varieties, so they are collectively called Ethiopian heirloom varieties. Because of the variety complexity, they are mixed in cultivation and mixed in harvesting, so Ethiopian heirloom variety beans will vary in size.

Setting aside Guanyu, the Brazilian region also doesn't grow Typica varieties. Coffee trees in the Brazilian region are all planted using unshaded methods, while Typica variety coffee trees are inherently weak and simply cannot withstand prolonged high-temperature exposure. Secondly, Typica trees have poor disease resistance and low coffee fruit yield, which doesn't meet economic benefits.

- Brazilian coffee regions

Additionally, Brazil's low altitude, flat terrain, and lack of microclimates make growing Typica varieties undoubtedly unproductive. Most Arabica coffee beans grown in Brazil are predominantly Bourbon varieties because they are vigorous, disease-resistant, and high-yielding, although their flavor is not as refined as Typica, they better meet economic benefits.

"Altitude: 2250m-2350m"

Brazil: I didn't even know I had such high altitudes! As mentioned above, Brazil is a country with low altitude and flat terrain, with altitudes ranging from 300m to 1500m, and most Brazilian Arabica coffee tree cultivation is concentrated at heights around 600-1000m.

And Guanyu coffee beans are indeed grown at altitudes of 2250m-2350m, but not in Brazil. Such altitude corresponds to the Guji Hambella region of Ethiopia.

"Specialty Coffee Rating Standard: 95 points"

Without discussing other aspects, whether it's SCA rating or COE rating, if Guanyu coffee beans could reach 95 points, they would definitely not be coffee beans that ordinary consumers could purchase daily.

According to cupping scores based on SCA standards, less than 80 points means not reaching specialty grade, and only above 80 points can be called specialty coffee beans. Generally, 80-84.99 points are called "Very good," 85-89.99 points are called "Excellent," and generally scores between 90-100 points are called "Outstanding."

According to cupping scores based on COE standards, below 70 points belongs to slightly poor commercial beans. A total score between 70 and 74.99 points belongs to general commercial beans. A total score between 75 and 79.99 points belongs to premium commercial beans. A total score between 80 and 86.99 points belongs to specialty coffee. A total score of 87 points or above belongs to COE competition level, which is also the winning coffee of the Cup of Excellence and is currently recognized as the highest level in the international coffee community.

"Grind Size: 3.5-4.5 mesh"

Mesh refers to the number of holes per square inch of screen. The higher the mesh number, the more holes there are. Besides indicating the holes in the screen, it's also used to represent the particle size that can pass through the screen. The higher the mesh number, the smaller the particle size. Mesh refers to the number of holes, that is, the number of holes per square inch. The larger the mesh number, the smaller the hole diameter.

Ground coffee powder is not measured using mesh/mesh count. Generally, the grind particle value for pour-over coffee is 600-800 microns, which is similar to the coarseness of sugar. If converted to mesh count, it's approximately 22-26 mesh.

"Taste Bud Evaluation Curve Standard"

Perhaps I'm ignorant, but I have never heard of such a standard... As for evaluating the quality of a coffee bean, the most authoritative cupping scoring systems are currently SCAA and COE.

According to SCA system cupping scores, the scoring items are divided into 11 categories: dry/wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, uniformity, balance, clean cup, sweetness, overall, and defect deduction.

According to COE system cupping scores, the items are divided into 9 categories: dry/wet aroma, clean cup, sweetness, acidity, mouthfeel, flavor, aftertaste, balance, and overall.

"Fruit Flavor Description"

This should refer to the coffee flavor description. If this were truly Guanyu coffee beans - Ethiopian heirloom variety, natural-processed at the Buku Abel processing station in the Guji Hambella region of Ethiopia - it would be reasonable to have such coffee flavors when roasted to a light-medium level.

But it's important to note that coffee beans are agricultural products, and their flavor will vary slightly each year with changes in regional climate, soil, and processing methods. Although there are variations, they still retain the main flavor profile of the variety, so not every batch/season's Guanyu coffee beans will have the same flavor performance. Although Guanyu coffee beans in recent years have mainly featured full berry acidity and sweetness, not every production season has rich flavor layers.

Conclusion

This article hopes that every coffee enthusiast can understand various aspects of coffee knowledge under proper guidance. It also hopes that every coffee professional will take responsibility for what they do and be accountable for what they say.

Image sources: Internet, Xiaohongshu, cafe imports

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