Ethiopia G1 Guji Coffee Beans Flavor Description Processing Method Quality Characteristics Taste Introduction

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Have you noticed that the origin information of "Hua Kui" coffee was mostly labeled as "Sidamo" in the past, but in recent years, it has changed to "Guji," and there are even cases of mixed usage. Why is this?

Sidamo, located in southern Ethiopia, was once a very large coffee-producing region, with a total of 23 areas, over 50 cooperatives, and more than 200 coffee processing stations. Its area is not only widely distributed, spanning multiple administrative regions, but each small producing area also has different terroir environments and climate characteristics. This has caused more or less variations in the coffee grown in different regions, thereby providing rich and diverse flavor profiles.

In the last century, Yirgacheffe originally belonged to the Sidamo region and was labeled as "large Sidamo coffee" when exported. However, because it gained worldwide attention early on for its outstanding flavors, it was the first to break away from the Sidamo classification and become independent. Additionally, with the support of the Ethiopian government, this town's coffee was successfully registered globally as the "Yirgacheffe®" flavor trademark in 2007.

Similarly, around 2008 when the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) was established, Guji coffee was also classified under the "Sidamo A" category in auction classifications. Later, as more and more smaller producing areas here made their way to the top of international green bean competitions like COE with their excellent flavor performance, Guji's reputation grew. Consequently, in 2015, ECX separated it out to become a new category representative.

Compared to other traditional producing regions, Guji is definitely a remote area in Ethiopia. Here, transportation is inconvenient, mountains are high and forests are dense, and it was isolated from the outside world in the past. The people here originally made a living by herding, but later, large amounts of mineral resources were discovered underground, and the mining industry began to thrive. It wasn't until recent years, as more and more international buyers recognized Guji's high-quality coffee, that the coffee industry developed rapidly, becoming a new important part of the Guji region.

Unlike Yirgacheffe, as a rising star, the Guji region has advantages such as late development of the coffee industry, high altitude, rich mineral soil, and sufficient available land resources, providing favorable conditions for establishing large-scale washing stations and natural processing fields. Additionally, the protection of original forests here is more complete, providing good guarantees for water and soil conservation and flavor uniqueness.

The Famous Sub-regions of Guji

When FrontStreet Coffee opens the coffee distribution map of Guji for observation, the well-known sub-regions include Ana Sora, Hambela, Shakiso, Uraga, and Rogicha. For example, the best-selling Hua Kui 8.0 from FrontStreet Coffee comes from Hambela in Guji and is naturally dried at the Buku Abel processing station.

Unlike traditional producing regions like Yirgacheffe, Hambela is actually a coffee farm belonging to the local renowned METAD Agricultural Development PLC. It is both an independent coffee farm and the main processing station for nearby planting areas, processing coffee planted in the vicinity and selling it as an independent batch. As a local Ethiopian coffee export company, METAD was founded by Aman Adinew in 2013, with coffee originating from the Gedeo Zone and Gedeb District of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), as well as the Guji Zone and Hambela Estate of the Oromia Region.

The Story Behind Hambela

Aman comes from a coffee family. His grandmother established coffee farms in Ethiopia's Harar and Sidamo regions last century. Aman himself also served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). After leaving government service, to help modernize the local coffee industry, he began establishing his own company METAD and has worked with thousands of small farmers in Yirgacheffe and Guji.

The entire Hambela farm covers 200 hectares and is located about 75 kilometers from Yirgacheffe, in Ethiopia's best coffee heartland. Its processing stations are already quite professional and well-established in terms of equipment, management, and scale. Additionally, fertile volcanic soil, natural organic farming, and relatively mature post-processing methods are all key factors that have made coffee from here the most popular sub-region in recent years.

Understanding "Hua Kui" Coffee

In coffee shops, the "Hua Kui" we often refer to is actually a natural process coffee bean from Ethiopia's Sidamo Hambella region, with the full English name "Ethiopia Guji Hambella Buku Abel." Broadly speaking, it is a champion bean from Ethiopia, while more specifically, it is a specialty natural batch produced and processed by the Buku Abel processing station in the Hambella region.

Before this bean was called "Hua Kui," it only had an English name: "Hambella," which translates to "罕贝拉" (Hǎnbèilā) in Chinese. To put it simply, the "Hua Kui Coffee" we speak of is actually a traditional natural process G1 grade coffee bean from the Hambella region, with "Buku Abel" processing station being its more detailed traceability information, located in Dimtu town.

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

The Evolution of Hua Kui Versions

Starting from the 2018 production season, Hua Kui (Natural Process G1 coffee beans) from the same growing origin and same processing station already showed some changes in flavor. FrontStreet Coffee discovered through cupping that although the 2018 and 2019 Hua Kui had similar flavors to the 2017 Hua Kui, they were inferior to the "first-generation Hua Kui" in terms of body, aftertaste, and other mouthfeel aspects.

Therefore, to continue selling this natural process coffee from Hambela while making certain distinctions from the original version, domestic green bean trading companies calculated backward from 2017 and created X.0 suffixes for each subsequent year's batch. For example, the 2018 batch was called "Hua Kui 2.0," the 2019 production was called "Hua Kui 3.0 and 3.1"... last year's release was "Hua Kui 7.0," and so on. Naturally, this year's latest version is "Hua Kui 8.0." This way, we can also easily determine through this suffix which year's batch the Hua Kui we purchased belongs to.

FrontStreet Coffee 2025 New Production Season Hua Kui Coffee Beans

Country: Ethiopia
Region: Sidamo · Guji Region
Altitude: 2250～2350 meters
Variety: Local Heirloom
Processing: Natural Process
Flavor: Floral, Jackfruit, Preserved Fruit, Apricot, Juicy

Lightly roasted coffee beans have a harder texture, and FrontStreet Coffee uses high-temperature water at 92℃-93℃ to stimulate the floral and fruit flavors in the coffee. FrontStreet Coffee recommends a medium-fine grind size (78% pass rate through China standard #20 sieve). Too coarse and you cannot extract body substances, making the brewed coffee seem thin. Too fine and it can easily lead to over-extraction at high water temperatures, making the brewed coffee prone to bitterness.

In terms of brewing ratio, FrontStreet Coffee believes that 1:15～1:16 are both acceptable. If you want a richer mouthfeel, use 1:15. If you want to more clearly perceive floral and sweet sensations, you can use 1:16 to let the flavors disperse more.

Pour-over Brewing Suggestions for Sidamo Region Hua Kui Coffee Beans

Dripper: V60
Water Temperature: 92-93℃
Dose: 15g
Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Fine sugar size (78% pass rate through #20 standard sieve)
Pouring Method: Three-stage pour

Three-stage pour: Use twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds to wet the coffee bed, forming a dome and bloom for 30s. Then use a small water flow to pour in circles from inside to outside until reaching 125g, then pause. Wait for the coffee bed to drop to half the height of the dripper, then continue with the same fine water flow to pour the third stage to 225g. Remove the dripper once all coffee liquid has filtered through, taking about 2 minutes total.

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