Huakui has been popular for so many years, and there are still friends asking: "Everyone says Huakui tastes great, but when I drink it, it seems just like ordinary coffee?"

The problem is mostly in how you drink it. Today I am writing a tasting note, from dry aroma to finish, to teach you step by step how to understand Huakui.

Step 1: Smell the dry aroma

After grinding the beans, do not rush to brew. Lean in and smell the grounds first.

The dry aroma of Huakui is a clear sweet fruity fragrance, with strawberry and passion fruit notes standing out most. This step helps you build a flavor expectation in advance, making it easier to catch those notes when you drink it later.

Step 2: Focus on the early stage

After pouring the water, let it bloom for 30 seconds. The wet aroma you smell at this point is fuller than the dry aroma, and the sweet fragrance of tropical fruit rises with the steam. In some lots, you can also catch richer notes such as jackfruit and lychee.

Step 3: Sip in small mouthfuls

Do not gulp it down. Take small sips and let the coffee spread across your mouth. Focus on sensing three things:

1. Sweetness - the sweetness of Huakui is a direct fructose-like sweetness, clearly perceptible even without adding sugar;

2. Acidity - it is a bright fruity acidity, soft and not sharp, like the sweet-and-sour taste of ripe fruit;

3. Bitterness - almost none. If you taste obvious bitterness, it is most likely because the water temperature is too high or the grind is too fine.

Step 4: Wait for the temperature to drop

As coffee goes from hot to warm, the flavor shifts. In Huakui, the juicy quality becomes more obvious after the temperature drops a little, and the sweetness becomes more concentrated. When many people say "the cooler it gets, the better it tastes," they mean this stage.

Step 5: Feel the finish

After swallowing, close your mouth and exhale through your nose. The finish of Huakui is a clean fruity sweetness that returns, lingering for a relatively long time, with no off-flavors or astringency.

Suggested brewing parameters

• Water temperature: 90-93 degrees C (for light-roasted beans, err on the lower side rather than higher)

• Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

• Grind: medium-fine

• Total extraction time: 1 minute 50 seconds to 2 minutes 10 seconds

Who is suited to drinking Huakui?

• Friends who dislike bitter coffee and are looking for "coffee that is not bitter";

• Beginners in pour-over who need a bean with highly recognizable flavors to train their senses;

• People who like fruity drinks - it is often described as "the coffee that tastes least like coffee."

Final notes

Understanding a bean is not mysticism; it is simply sensing it in order: dry aroma, wet aroma, early stage, middle stage, finish. Use this method to drink Huakui, and you will find that those flavor descriptions are not marketing copy, but things that truly exist in the cup.