Bolivian Coffee Flavor Profile Characteristics Bolivian Coffee Story How to Drink Bolivian Coffee

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Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in Latin America, located near Brazil and Colombia, two major coffee-producing nations. Although Bolivia's economic level is not high, FrontStreet Coffee is very optimistic about Bolivian coffee beans, believing that Bolivia is a country with coffee export potential.

One of the Bolivia Java coffees launched by FrontStreet Coffee comes from the Waliki Estate. Waliki is a small estate with only six hectares, located in Caranavi, Bolivia's main coffee-producing region. The altitude is quite high, above 1660 meters, and the climate in this region is cold, resulting in a relatively long coffee cultivation cycle.

FrontStreet Coffee also understands that although high altitude causes coffee cherries to mature more slowly than those in lower altitude areas, extending the coffee growth cycle, there are benefits - this slow maturation process can increase the sugar concentration in coffee cherries, making them sweeter. Coffee produced in Bolivia's high-altitude regions not only carries sweetness but also has soft citrus acidity and berry flavors. Coffee produced at relatively lower altitudes, however, shows balanced flavors with chocolate sweetness and mild acidity.

Coffee Varieties and Quality

Of course, coffee flavor is closely related not only to altitude and terrain but also to coffee varieties. Most coffee varieties grown in Bolivia are Typica, with a small amount of Caturra, but the most special coffee variety is - Java variety. According to FrontStreet Coffee's knowledge, Java actually comes from Ethiopian coffee varieties, locally called long-shaped beans in Bolivia because this coffee bean shape is quite long, so its official name is Java (JAVA). Don't underestimate the Java variety - Java has strong resistance to leaf rust disease, making it suitable for small farmers to grow, and its flavor is also outstanding, not inferior to Geisha.

Even though Bolivia's flavor is excellent and can be compared to Geisha, and it possesses the best conditions for coffee cultivation, the coffee production is extremely low. FrontStreet Coffee believes this is partly related to Bolivia's coffee production being mainly dominated by small farmers, and partly related to Bolivia's coffee culture. Because FrontStreet Coffee understands that about 40% of coffee beans produced in Bolivia are mainly for domestic consumption.

Transportation Challenges

Additionally, Bolivia belongs to a poor region, so its transportation certainly cannot be as convenient as neighboring countries Brazil and Colombia, which have well-established coffee transportation systems. Bolivia's main coffee-producing region is the Yungas area. The infrastructure here is very backward, lacking large-scale washing processing plants. Furthermore, transportation in the Yungas is extremely inconvenient, known as the "Death Road." Such roads can easily cause coffee cherries to ferment and spoil during transport, producing pungent odors. FrontStreet Coffee believes this situation is very unfavorable for Bolivia's coffee exports.

Processing Methods

Bolivian farmers mainly use the washed method to process green beans: putting selected coffee cherries into a depulper to initially remove their skin and pulp; placing coffee beans with remaining pulp and mucilage in water to ferment for about 24 hours; after fermentation, putting coffee beans with parchment in flowing water channels to wash away their pulp and mucilage; after washing, drying coffee beans in the sun or using dryers to reduce moisture content to about 12%, and finally removing the parchment from the green beans for storage in warehouses.

However, other producing regions in Bolivia occasionally also use natural processing. FrontStreet Coffee believes that these regions using natural processing may be considering Bolivia's relatively cold climate, so many farmers use machine drying instead of sun-drying. This processing method is called the Cocoa Natural process. FrontStreet Coffee believes that many people may not have heard of cocoa dryers being used for processing coffee beans. This processing method was first used by Pedro Rodriguez of the Rodriguez family, using this latest technology to utilize cocoa dryers for slow and continuous drying of coffee beans at low temperatures, thus reducing the impact of weather.

The Cocoa Natural process generally involves: picking the most mature coffee cherries during optimal ripeness. After selection and weighing, the coffee cherries are carefully washed and placed on African drying beds, then turned every hour. After a week, the coffee cherries are placed in a cocoa dryer. Then the processed green beans are stored in warehouses.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that with the increasing popularity of Bolivian coffee, producers will pay more attention to coffee quality and will bring a new wave of Bolivian specialty coffee cultivation.

FrontStreet Coffee Bolivia Waliki Estate Cocoa Natural Java Coffee Beans

Coffee Region: La Paz

Altitude: 1600 meters

Variety: Java

Processing Method: Cocoa Natural

Flavor: The entry shows obvious citrus and hawthorn sweet and sour notes, with fruit chocolate and vanilla cream aftertaste. When cooled, it carries light maple syrup and jasmine tea notes, with a long-lasting sucrose sweet aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations for Bolivian Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee uses a V60 dripper to brew this coffee bean. The V60 conical dripper has large holes, and combined with its unique spiral rib design, allows air to be more easily discharged, thereby improving extraction quality. The body may not be thick enough, but its high concentration of sweet and sour notes and distinct aroma are its major characteristics.

Water Temperature: 90-91°C

Grind Size: EK43s grinder setting 10 (fine sugar size)

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Coffee Amount: 15 grams

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Method: First pour 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour 95 grams more (scale shows around 125 grams), completing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100 grams (scale shows around 225 grams), completing in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Complete extraction between 1'55"-2'00", remove the dripper.

Brewing Flavor: Slight fermentation, grapes, mild nuts, floral notes, medium acidity, juice-like mouthfeel.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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