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

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

Orange Fruit Estate (Finca El Naranjo Dipilto) and Buenos Aires Estate (Finca Buenos Aires) both took the Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) title, in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Today we have the chance to taste the natural process Maragogype elephant beans from Orange Fruit Estate (Finca El Naranjo Dipilto), the 2016 Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) champion. Their exceptional quality has earned unanimous recognition from expert cupping panels, and Nicaragua, one of the major coffee-producing countries, consistently turns out coffee of outstanding quality.

Nicaragua is divided mainly into four coffee-producing regions: Nueva Segovia, Matagalpa/Jinotega, Boaco, and the Pacific Coast. Nueva Segovia has the highest cultivation altitudes, roughly 1,450 to 1,600 meters, and produces the top-grade S.H.B. (Strictly Hard Beans) coffee. Widespread volcanic ash soil and shade-grown cultivation give high-quality Nicaraguan coffee its smooth flavor profile.

The Luis Emilio Valladarez family has five members and owns many estates of various sizes. From their first appearance at the Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) competition in 2006 (El Suyatal) to their championship with Orange Fruit Estate (Finca El Naranjo Dipilto) in 2016, the family has built a deep record. Orange Fruit Estate sits in Dipilto in the Nueva Segovia region, near the Pan-American Highway, with its own microclimate, ringed by pine forest and next to the La Campana Ecological Reserve.

24 years ago, Luis Emilio Valladarez bought this small patch of pine forest land and began planting coffee. The land covers only 22 hectares, and a small water processing plant was built alongside it. The owner now runs 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 at the Cup of Excellence (COE), which makes them a coffee estate with unusually strong cultivation credentials.

Nicaraguan coffee beans rank among the largest of all coffee beans, and the Maragogype giant elephant bean is the most distinctive example. Maragogype beans are larger than regular coffee beans, generally called elephant beans, and they carry a unique 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 the 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 the "sun-drying method" because it uses sunlight to dry coffee cherries.

Three-Stage Ultimate Bean Selection

Drawing on the estate farmers' years of experience, mature red cherries are hand-picked. The harvested cherries then go through three strict selections, and only the firm, mature, full red cherries are set aside for natural sun-drying. The entire process is "completely" water-free, ensuring no loss of fruit sweetness.

Natural Sun Drying

After harvest, the cherries are dried through the natural method, turning the originally bright red fruit into black dry cherries. The selected cherries sit on the drying field for 19-25 days, depending on the origin's climate, with the bean moisture content controlled at around 11-12%. To ensure even drying and avoid over-fermentation, the cherries need constant stirring during sun-drying; if the sun-drying runs too long or is uneven, over-fermented wine acidity and rotten flavors can develop.

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

Hulling

At export, the sun-dried cherries go through a hulling machine to remove the dry hard skin, pulp and parchment layer.

Hand Selection and Grading

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

Advantages of Natural Process

Properly processed natural beans dry while still wrapped in pulp, absorbing the fruit essence, which results in strong fruit aroma, heavy sweetness and high body. Unique and distinctive, with no loss of sweetness and almost no visible defects, it keeps 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 of all. Weather quality greatly affects bean quality, it requires a longer time, and improper processing can easily leave 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, then extract with 89-90°C water at a 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, then pour again slowly, keeping the speed even and the water level from rising too high. Add water again to 233ml and stop, with an extraction time of 2:15, giving rich natural sweetness. Everyone can fine-tune from here according to their own taste.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A water-free natural Maragogype with orange soda, tropical fruit and heavy sweetness belongs to the same family as our natural Ethiopian lots, and the FrontStreet Natural Red Cherry is the nearest match. It is a Yirgacheffe natural, medium-light roasted, with elegant florals and a bright acidity over tropical fruit, a full fermentation note and plenty of sweetness. If you want that fruit turned up further, the FrontStreet Natural Huakui adds light fermentation, floral, citrus and mango with honey sweetness, cocoa and a touch of spice, and it finishes thick and long. Both show the layered, fruit-driven side of natural processing that this estate is chasing.