Colombia Finca San Jose Estate Oak Barrel Fermentation Processing Coffee Flavor and Taste Characteristics Description

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The quality of Colombian coffee ranks among the best in the world. Its excellent geographical environment and cultivation standards have contributed to the development of specialty coffee. In Colombia, you'll find coffee beans processed with various modern methods, whose unique flavors leave a lasting impression on many coffee enthusiasts. The Colombian San Jose Coffee introduced today is precisely such a coffee bean with distinctive flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee - Colombia San Jose Estate

Region: Caldas, Colombia

Estate: San Jose Estate

Altitude: 1750 meters

Grade: Supremo

Variety: Castillo

Processing: Refined Washed Rum Barrel Fermentation

Caldas is located in central-western Colombia, situated in the Cordillera Central of the Andes Mountains, with the Magdalena River to the east and the Cauca River to the west. San Jose Estate (Finca San Jose Estate) is a historic estate located in Caldas Province in central Colombia, with abundant sunshine and an average annual temperature between 21°C-25°C.

San Jose Estate

The century-old San Jose Estate (Finca San Jose Estate) is located in a volcanic ash-rich area near the Nevada del Ruiz volcano, enjoying abundant sunshine with an average annual temperature between 21°C-25°C. The estate spans a total of 18 hectares, with 16.5 hectares dedicated to coffee cultivation.

During the recent wave of specialty coffee, San Jose Estate has been actively seeking breakthroughs to forge its own unique path.

The estate owner, Monsalve Botero, whose husband specializes in manufacturing rum oak barrels and brewing rum, had an epiphany one day while filling distillate for fermentation. She wondered if placing green coffee beans in oak barrels for fermentation might produce even more distinctive flavors.

Therefore, Monsalve Botero began experimenting with rum barrel fermentation of varying durations at low temperatures starting in 2013, finally finding the ideal method in 2018 to produce this coffee bean, which differs from typical washed processing.

Coffee Variety

Castillo is a new-generation leaf rust-resistant coffee variety jointly developed by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) and Colombia's National Coffee Research Center, Cenicafé. Cenicafé aimed to further improve the variety to achieve higher coffee yields, greater resistance, and quality and flavor comparable to Caturra.

In the latter half of the last century, Caturra gradually replaced Colombia's ancient coffee varieties to become the main cultivated variety. In 1982, the Coffee Research Center released the Colombia variety. In 1983, leaf rust was first discovered in Colombia, allowing the disease-resistant Colombia variety to be promoted. In 2005, building on research of the Colombia variety, the Coffee Research Center introduced the Castillo variety. The FNC strongly supported the application of new varieties, promoting their cultivation through comprehensive agricultural and financial policies. Within just a decade, by 2015, articles indicated that Castillo already occupied 40% of all coffee cultivation area in Colombia. The leaf rust outbreak of 2008-2010 also contributed to the popularization of Castillo.

The vigorous promotion of Castillo once sparked significant controversy between coffee farmers and roasters. The debate often focused on the Robusta genes of the new Castillo variety and its cupping performance compared to Caturra. In December 2014 and January 2015, world-renowned coffee organizations and research institutions, collaborating with famous coffee companies, conducted a sensory test comparing the cupping performance of Castillo and Caturra. The analysis covered 25 farms in Colombia's Nariño region, providing both Castillo and Caturra samples. As for the test results, generally speaking, Castillo showed good cupping performance.

Refined Washed Rum Barrel Processing

The coffee used for refined washed rum barrel fermentation is carefully selected Castillo variety beans of approximately 17-18 screen size. After pulping the coffee cherries, they are placed in aged oak barrels for low-temperature fermentation. Following the low-temperature fermentation, the beans undergo washed processing, and finally are dried on sun-drying racks.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis

FrontStreet Coffee's roasters believe that this rum oak barrel fermented coffee should be roasted to highlight its wine aroma, therefore adopting a medium-light roast.

Using Yang Jia semi-direct heat 800n with 300g green beans as an example: Heat the drum to 190°C, set heat to 140, and open the air damper to 3. Return to temperature at 1'42", when drum temperature reaches 140°C, open air damper to 4, keeping heat unchanged. When drum temperature reaches 151.8°C, the bean surface turns yellow and grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. When drum temperature reaches 150°C, adjust heat to 120, keeping air damper unchanged.

At 8'38", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly transforms to coffee aroma. This can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'07", first crack begins. Open air damper to 4. Develop for 2'10" after first crack, then drop at 195°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Guide

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Coffee Dose: 15 grams

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Medium-fine grind (BG6M: 78% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve)

Brewing Method: Poured over in stages

Use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Continue pouring in small circular motions to 125g, then segment the pour. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 228g and stop. When the water level drops again and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Timing starts from bloom) Total extraction time is 1'50".

Flavor Description

Features notes of rum, liqueur chocolate, tropical fruits, and grapes, with maple sweetness and a creamy mouthfeel.

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