Nueva Segovia Orange Fruit Estate Elephant Bean | What Do Natural Process Elephant Beans Taste Like? Orange Fruit Estate

New Segovia Orange Fruit Estate Elephant Beans | What Do Natural Process Elephant Beans Taste Like? What Are the Cultivation Advantages of Orange Fruit Estate Elephant Beans?

Orange Fruit Estate (Finca El Naranjo Dipilto) and Buenos Aires Estate (Finca Buenos Aires) both won the Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) championship in 2015 and 2016. Today we have the opportunity to taste the 2016 Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) champion Orange Fruit Estate's (Finca El Naranjo Dipilto) natural process Maragogype elephant beans. With their exceptional quality, they have received unanimous recognition from expert cupping panels. Nicaragua is one of the major coffee-producing countries, producing coffee of exceptional quality.

Nicaragua is mainly divided into four major coffee-producing regions—New Segovia (Nueva Segovias), Matagalpa/Jinotega, Boaco, and the Pacific Coast region. The Nueva Segovia region has the highest cultivation altitude, ranging from approximately 1,450 to 1,600 meters, producing the highest grade S.H.B. (Strictly Hard Beans) coffee. The widespread volcanic ash soil and shade-grown cultivation methods produce high-quality Nicaraguan coffee with a smooth flavor profile.

The Luis Emilio Valladarez family consists of five members and owns many estates of various sizes. From their first participation in the Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) competition in 2006 (El Suyatal) to winning the championship with Orange Fruit Estate (Finca El Naranjo Dipilto) in 2016, this Orange Fruit Estate is located in the Dipilto city of the Nueva Segovia region, near the Pan-American Highway. This place features a microclimate, surrounded by pine forests, and is adjacent to the La Campana Ecological Reserve.

24 years ago, Luis Emilio Valladarez bought this small pine forest land and began planting coffee. The land area is only 22 hectares, and a small water processing plant was also established. The estate owner now has seven estates: Finca El Naranjo Dipilto, Finca Buenos Aires, Finca El Carmen, Finca Ojo de Agua, Finca La Laguna, Finca El Suyatal, and Finca San Salvador. In the Nicaraguan coffee industry, they win awards every year in the Cup of Excellence (COE) competition, making them a coffee estate with exceptionally strong cultivation capabilities.

Nicaraguan coffee beans are considered among the largest of all coffee beans, with the Maragogype giant elephant beans being the most distinctive. Maragogype beans are larger than regular coffee beans, generally called elephant beans, and possess a unique special aroma and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.

Coffee Details

Variety: Maragogype

Region: Nueva Segovia, Area: Dipilto

Grade: Strictly Hard Beans (S.H.B. EP) - Premium high-altitude strictly hard beans

Altitude: 1,600 meters

Processing: Water-free natural process

Coffee cultivation area: 22 hectares

Cupping Report

Dry Aroma: Spices, macadamia, berries, honey, sweet aroma of orange soda

Wet Aroma: Caramel, sweet fruit aroma, honey, wine aroma, macadamia (mountain pepper), cinnamon, sucrose, aged tangerine peel

Slurping: Refreshing sweet taste of orange soda, yogurt aroma, fresh asparagus juice, citrus sweet and sour, special sweet fruit aroma, millet wine aroma in the throat, fruit juice sweetness, macadamia, kumquat, tropical fruit flavors; The special characteristic of giant elephant beans processed with water-free natural method lies in their fresh flavor, completely different from the strong flavor of typical natural process beans, with a smooth and refreshing mouthfeel and heavy sweetness; The layers are extremely rich, definitely an exciting and excellent bean worth anticipating.

Natural Process (Sun-Dry Process / Procesado Natural)

Over a thousand years ago, Arabs used the natural process to handle coffee. The natural process is also called "sun-drying method" because it uses sunlight to dry coffee cherries.

Three-Stage Ultimate Bean Selection

Based on the estate farmers' years of rich experience, mature red cherries are hand-picked; The harvested cherries undergo three strict selections, then the firm, mature, and full red cherries are selected for natural sun-drying. The entire process is "completely" water-free, ensuring no loss of fruit sweetness.

Natural Sun Drying

After coffee cherries are harvested, they are dried through the natural drying method, turning the originally bright red coffee cherries into black dry cherries. The selected cherries are exposed on the drying field for 19-25 days (depending on the origin's climate), controlling the bean moisture content to around 11-12%. To ensure uniform drying and avoid over-fermentation, the cherries need to be constantly stirred during the sun-drying process (if sun-drying time is too long or not uniform enough, over-fermented wine acidity and rotten flavors may develop).

Regardless of the processing method, during sun-drying, a waterproof cloth must be added at night to block night dew.

Hulling

When exporting, the sun-dried cherries are processed with a hulling machine to remove the dry hard skin, pulp, and parchment layer.

Hand Selection and Grading

Defective beans are hand-selected, with at least "five" rounds of hand-picking requirements to strictly select S.H.B. strictly hard grade coffee beans.

Advantages of Natural Process

Properly processed natural beans are naturally dried while wrapped in pulp, absorbing the fruit essence, resulting in strong fruit aroma, heavy sweetness, and high body. Unique and distinctive, with no loss of sweetness, and almost no defects in appearance, maintaining the quality commitment that Aroma Specialty Coffee has always promised.

Disadvantages of Natural Process

Limited by weather conditions, this method fears rain and moisture most. Weather quality greatly affects bean quality, and it requires a longer time; Improper processing can easily mix in too many defective beans or impurities.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Use a KEY dripper, 16g of coffee to 32g of water, bloom for 30 seconds, extract with 89-90°C water at 1:15 ratio, medium-fine grind (Fuji 3.5). For the second pour, add water to 110ml and stop, wait for the water level to drop before slowly pouring again, maintaining even speed and keeping the water level not too high. Add water again to 233ml and stop, extraction time 2:15 seconds—rich natural sweetness. Everyone can make fine adjustments according to their own taste preferences.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473