COE Honduras Sweet Orange Estate Coffee Beans Cinnamon Roast Brewing Suggestions

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Today, FrontStreet Coffee would like to introduce a coffee bean from a Central American country. Coffees from Central America share a common characteristic - they possess rich floral and fruity aromas with juice-like mouthfeel. However, the Central American country that FrontStreet Coffee is introducing today not only has this characteristic but also exhibits balanced and layered overall flavor profiles. It comes from the Sweet Orange Estate in Honduras.

Honduras: Ideal Coffee Growing Conditions

The reason why Honduras produces such high-quality coffee beans is related to its excellent geographical location. FrontStreet Coffee understands that Honduras has numerous mountains and plateaus with a tropical climate, providing ideal conditions for coffee cultivation. These include microclimates, high altitudes, fertile soil, and abundant rainfall - precisely the advantages of being located within the coffee golden belt between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

This terrain is particularly suitable for growing varieties like Catuai and Caturra. Honduras generally cultivates Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, Catuai, and Pacas varieties. You might be less familiar with the Pacas variety, which was discovered in El Salvador and then transplanted to Honduras. Ultimately, Pacas is actually a variant of Bourbon.

Washed Processing Method

The Honduras coffee bean that FrontStreet Coffee is introducing today is of the Catuai variety, processed using the washed method common in Central America. First, coffee cherries are poured into water tanks and floatation is used to remove debris or underdeveloped coffee beans. Then, the pulp and skin are removed, and parchment beans with mucilage are placed in fermentation tanks for 18-36 hours. After fermentation and mucilage removal, since fermentation bacteria and impurities remain on the coffee beans, they are washed again before drying until the moisture content reaches about 12%.

Roasting Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee has roasted washed beans multiple times and discovered a characteristic: when lightly roasted, the aroma of washed beans is very pronounced, with bright overall mouthfeel and excellent sweetness. Therefore, when FrontStreet Coffee roasts Honduras coffee beans, they found that Honduras coffee beans have a special characteristic - as the roast level changes, the flavor and layers of the coffee beans also change accordingly. When FrontStreet Coffee adjusts the roast level of Honduras coffee beans to medium roast, the coffee beans develop a pleasant sweetness, while dark roast, like most beans, enhances bitterness, but the sweetness of Honduras coffee beans does not disappear. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee reached a conclusion when roasting Honduras beans: medium roast coffee beans have the best mouthfeel with rich, unique aroma.

Sweet Orange Estate Quality Control

When FrontStreet Coffee received the green beans from Honduras Sweet Orange Estate, they observed that these Sweet Orange Estate coffee beans were full-bodied, similar in size, and had excellent bean appearance. However, to ensure the roasted Sweet Orange Estate coffee maintains good quality, FrontStreet Coffee's barista performs secondary hand-sorting before roasting to remove defective beans. To preserve the sweetness and orange-like fresh aroma of FrontStreet Coffee's Sweet Orange Estate coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee plans to use light roasting to express the regional flavor characteristics of Honduras coffee beans.

Cupping and Brewing Analysis

After roasting, FrontStreet Coffee's barista immediately conducted cupping of these Honduras coffee beans. The cupping revealed that the dry aroma of these Sweet Orange Estate coffee beans has notes of spices and roasted peanut chocolate. When 94°C water was added, the wet aroma within four minutes showed herbaceous freshness. After cupping, FrontStreet Coffee proceeded to the brewing stage for these Honduras coffee beans. This time, FrontStreet Coffee plans to use different brewing methods to see how the flavors of these Sweet Orange Estate coffee beans perform - please stay tuned!

Optimal Brewing Parameters

To better express the fresh aroma of citrus peel, lemon acidity, and the smoothness of nuts and cocoa, FrontStreet Coffee plans to use 90-91°C water temperature. This temperature allows the coffee to better release its acidity and nut-cocoa flavors. If the temperature is too high, it can easily extract undesirable flavors, while too low a temperature might only extract acidity, with other flavors not being properly released. Water temperature: 90°C, coffee dose: 15g, coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15, grind size: 80% pass-through through standard #20 sieve (fine sugar size). FrontStreet Coffee uses their commonly employed three-stage pouring technique: bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds, then pour with small circular motion to 125g for segmentation, continue pouring to 225g when the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, remove the filter when water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed (timing starts from bloom), extraction time: 2'00".

Three Brewing Methods Comparison

The first method uses the Hario V60 dripper. The V60 structure has three main characteristics: first, the 60° conical shape; second, clockwise spiral ribs; third, a single drainage hole. The presence of ribs creates space between the filter paper and dripper, and combined with the single drainage hole, helps water flow down quickly.

The second method uses the wave dripper. The wave dripper, also called the flat-bottom dripper, has a flat bottom design that allows for even water flow, improving extraction rate. Additionally, with only three small holes at the bottom, the flow rate is relatively slow, allowing the coffee grounds to be fully saturated, resulting in more balanced extraction. Furthermore, using folded filter paper that doesn't directly adhere to the dripper creates maximum extraction area. On one hand, this helps concentrate extraction, allowing hot water to drip down evenly and smoothly; on the other hand, it also reduces temperature loss.

The third brewing method uses the Kalita dripper. Observed from the side, it presents a shape that is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, which helps concentrate water flow, while the circular top provides a wider area for even distribution of coffee particles, reducing stacking. The Kalita has many straight-line distributed ribs with consistent spacing between them, designed to increase degassing and water flow speed. At the same time, its flow rate is relatively slow, primarily using immersion for extraction.

Brewing Results and Conclusion

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee reached the following conclusions:

First method flavors: Grapefruit peel, citrus acidity, nutty aftertaste, slight smoky sensation.

Second method flavors: Orange peel, grapefruit acidity and tea-like sensation, nutty aftertaste, smoky sensation.

Third method flavors: Grapefruit peel, grapefruit acidity, nutty and cocoa aftertaste, smoky sensation.

Therefore, when brewing coffee, everyone can use their preferred methods and techniques to brew this coffee from Honduras Sweet Orange Estate. The reason FrontStreet Coffee stocks this coffee bean is mainly because its flavor is highly representative of its origin. Honduras regional coffee flavors and aromas can exhibit exotic spice elements, with nutty chocolate richness in the finish, showing overall balance and layering. This Sweet Orange Estate bean particularly expresses dark chocolate, roasted nuts, and subtle spices in aroma, while the entry shows citrus fruit peel aroma and lemon tea acidity, with nuts and cream-like smoothness in the middle, rich with layering.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473