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Is Huakui the Same as Geisha? Can Huakui 8.0 Coffee Beans Be Considered Top-Tier Geisha?

Published: 2026-01-28 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/28, FrontStreet Coffee recalls that during Huakui's peak era, rumors frequently circulated online claiming: "Huakui is top-tier Geisha!" With Huakui's information now fully "exposed," people can likely identify the authenticity of this statement at a glance, but at that time, people were genuinely confused, and this rumor emerged because...

(Left is Sidamo·Horse Champion coffee, right is Panama·Geisha coffee)

FrontStreet Coffee suddenly recalled that during the peak of Horse Champion's popularity, there was a widespread rumor online: Horse Champion is top-tier Geisha! Now that information about Horse Champion is completely "exposed," everyone can easily identify the truth of this statement, but at that time, people were genuinely confused. The reason this rumor spread relates to Geisha's another name—"Geisha," which has some connection.

"Geisha" - Geisha's Another Name in China

In 1931, Geisha was discovered in a forest in Ethiopia, but at this time, Geisha didn't cause any waves. It wasn't until 73 years later in 2004, when Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda used Geisha varieties obtained from Costa Rica to win the BOP competition championship, that Geisha became known to the world! Consequently, in the following years, Geisha almost became the essential "champion-winning bean" for major estates and competitors in competitions.

Since Geisha is the same word as "Geisha" in English, Taiwanese counterparts translated Geisha directly from English, calling it Geisha. However, people later discovered that Geisha has a dual meaning in Ethiopia: one refers to a specific region in southwestern Ethiopia, and the other refers to the coffee varieties from that specific region. Therefore, in 2006, when Mr. Yuan from Kalomen Coffee first imported Panama's Geisha to mainland China, he named it "Geisha."

What are the Representatives of Top-Tier Geisha Coffee?

Many customers at FrontStreet Coffee discussing Geisha inevitably mention the two "labels" on the blackboard: one is Hacienda La Esmeralda's Red Label Geisha, and the other is Geisha Village Estate's Gold Label Geisha. Due to higher green bean costs, FrontStreet Coffee specifically distinguishes them and marks corresponding pour-over prices, which are "75/cup" and "60/cup" respectively. This has also attracted many friends' attention, especially those who have long heard of Geisha's fame but haven't had the opportunity to savor its taste.

These labeled Geishas mentioned by baristas are named to highlight their high grade. Whether it's the Red Label and Gold Label discussed today, or the Green Label and Blue Label that follow, even if we can't identify their order through prefixes, we certainly know: this X-label Geisha from XX estate should be of higher grade than ordinary Geisha, and possibly more expensive. In fact, this "label" terminology only appears in Chinese contexts. In other words, when we use their English names, you might not recognize who is who, and who is more senior than whom.

Hacienda La Esmeralda's Red Label Geisha has the original name "Esmeralda Special," translated to Chinese as "Esmeralda Special Selection." This is the highest quality Geisha coffee beans sold by the estate. It not only requires cupping scores to reach above 91 points, but each batch also comes with detailed "birth information." The "red" in Red Label is taken from the background color of this product's trademark. The same applies to Hacienda La Esmeralda's Green Label and Blue Label, aiming to make it easier for domestic consumers to remember and distinguish them.

Similarly, Geisha Village Estate's Gold Label Geisha also has its English name "Rarities," which translates to "rare treasures." Simply put, it's the highest grade Geisha (non-auction batches) launched by Geisha Village. The "gold" in Gold Label is also taken from the background color of the product's trademark. According to Geisha Village's official website, this grade of Geisha coffee accounts for only 10% of the estate's total production. Like Hacienda La Esmeralda's Red Label, each batch comes with plot information for buyers' reference.

Although this domestic practice of using background colors to replace original product names does make different grades of Geisha more popular and memorable, it sometimes causes confusion due to "color clashes." For example, in the Geisha production and sales systems established by these two estates, there are grades with red and green backgrounds, so there are two "Red Labels" and two "Green Labels" on the market. When ordering, remember to pay attention, or ask the barista which estate the Geisha comes from.

A Popular Favorite for Many Years - "Horse Champion"

In 2017, the Buku Abel processing station in the Hambella sub-region of Guji, Ethiopia, won the TOH championship with a natural-processed heirloom variety coffee bean! It has rich strawberry flavor, high sweetness, and smooth creamy texture. This bean is Horse Champion!

After winning the championship, the green beans from this championship batch were imported by Beijing's green bean trader. Then, in the same year's World Brewers Cup, China's runner-up Li Jianfei used this bean to overcome numerous obstacles, defeating many Geishas to win the runner-up position.

Therefore, this bean gained very high exposure immediately, coupled with its extremely high cost-performance ratio, which conquered all coffee friends. This allowed us to see new season's Horse Champion with new number codes rushing to popularity every year since!

What Does Horse Champion 8.0 Mean?

In our impression, coffee bean naming methods usually have traces to follow, and once established, they don't change. For example, Geisha is a variety, Blue Mountain is an origin, Gotiti is a processing station, etc. But Horse Champion is particularly special. Like Apple's iPhone, it needs a new "version name" every year to be listed. Why is this?

In fact, before this bean was called "Horse Champion," it only had an English name "Hambella," translated as "Hambella." To put it bluntly, what we call "Horse Champion Coffee" is simply a traditional natural G1 coffee bean from the Hambella region, with "Buku Abel" processing station being its more precise traceability information, located in Dimtu town.

After "Horse Champion" became famous overnight, to meet the surge in market demand, DW Company established 5 independent coffee green bean drying processing stations in Hambella Wamena Wereda, all located within the core production area of Dimtu town. Besides the original Buku Abel, four small villages including Buku Saysay, Haro Soresa, Tirtiro Goye, and Seke Bokosa also joined the production of natural coffee beans. It is reported that at this time, the annual production of "Horse Champion" under DW Company had reached tens of millions of tons.

Starting from the 2018 production season, Horse Champion (natural G1 coffee beans) from the same growing area and same processing stations already showed some changes in flavor. FrontStreet Coffee discovered through cupping at that time, although the 2018 and 2019 Horse Champions had flavors similar to the 2017 Horse Champion, they were inferior to the "first-generation Horse Champion" in terms of body, aftertaste, and other mouthfeel aspects.

Therefore, to continue selling this natural coffee from Hambella while making certain distinctions from the original version, domestic green bean trading companies calculated from 2017 onwards and formulated X.0 suffixes for each subsequent year's batches. For example, the 2018 batch was called "Horse Champion 2.0," the 2019 production was called "Horse Champion 3.0 and 3.1"... Last year's listing was "Horse Champion 7.0," and so on. This way, we can identify which year's batch the Horse Champion we purchased belongs to through this suffix.

Why Did People Think Horse Champion Was Top-Tier Geisha?

In fact, by this point, everyone probably already has some answer in their hearts. The reason is the name "Horse Champion"! Geisha's earliest name in China was "Geisha," and Geisha in Japanese culture is a title for an artistic performer! Initially, they were just staff performing in entertainment venues, but people often mistook them for another profession in these venues. Therefore, to distinguish them from another profession in the venues, the title "Geisha" emerged. Among Geishas, top performers would be given the title "Horse Champion"!

The reason this natural heirloom variety was named Horse Champion was to imply that it could defeat Geisha and become the top-tier existence among beans! Then, through online dissemination, this statement changed from "Horse Champion will defeat Geisha and become top-tier" to "Horse Champion this coffee bean is top-tier Geisha," which is truly somewhat laughable. To avoid further embarrassment, FrontStreet Coffee believes we need to first understand what "Horse Champion flavor" and "Geisha flavor" are, as well as their differences.

"Horse Champion Flavor" and "Geisha Flavor"

Horse Champion, if we look at it from the literal meaning, we might think it's a coffee with "overwhelming floral fragrance." In fact, it's not the case. Horse Champion's floral notes aren't particularly strong; instead, fruit aromas are especially prominent, such as creamy strawberry, mango, jackfruit, citrus, blueberry, etc. It possesses the unique mature tropical fruit flavor of Sidamo natural beans, often leaving a deep impression. Moreover, it was precisely this rich berry fragrance that allowed "Horse Champion" to win first place in that year's TOH green bean competition.

FrontStreet Coffee's new season Horse Champion 8.0 shows richer fruit tones than 7.0 in dry fragrance, with dense aromas like guava, jackfruit, apricot, preserved fruit, citrus, and pink floral notes. Upon entry, you can feel the sweet and sour interweaving of multiple fruits like dried mango, jackfruit, orange, and passion fruit. The juice sensation is clear, and the mouthfeel is round. As the temperature slightly decreases, the sweet freshness of peach and the bright acidity of berries begin to release. After swallowing, you can feel a sweet aftertaste like drinking black tea, with extremely rich layers.

The reason Geisha can win the love of countless coffee enthusiasts is that, unlike the strong black coffee in traditional impressions, it's more like a cup of fresh floral and fruit tea. With rich fragrance and complex fruit flavors, it reminds people of a series of unusual aromas. At different temperatures, you can feel delicate texture and sweet and sour fruit flavors filling the entire mouth. Geisha's such extraordinary flavor characteristics are enough to make it the "ceiling" in the mouths of many coffee enthusiasts.

Today, besides Panama, we can also taste Geisha coffee from countries like Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Colombia, and Guatemala in many coffee shops, each with unique flavor profiles. If you're tasting Geisha coffee for the first time, FrontStreet Coffee suggests starting with Panama, the region where Geisha became famous. Panama's coffee estates have more planting experience with the Geisha variety, and their unique Geisha flavors are more representative.