Flavor Characteristics and Story Introduction of Yunnan Wine-Scented Natural Process Coffee Beans - Are Menglian Small Beans Delicious?

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With the development of the coffee industry, more and more novel coffee processing methods have emerged. At FrontStreet Coffee, our beans basically include all current mainstream processing methods. This year's most popular processing methods are undoubtedly anaerobic and wine fermentation. FrontStreet Coffee currently has several anaerobic and wine-processed coffee beans, which are also very popular among customers in our store. Indeed, this type of processing method is very prominent and impressive in aroma performance. This Yunnan Menglian small bean coffee uses wine-sun-dried processing to treat the beans, with very special flavors, featuring fermented red wine and longan dried fruit aromas, honey sweetness, and a creamy mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee Yunnan Menglian Small Bean Coffee

Region: Mangmao Village, Fuyan Township, Menglian County, Yunnan

Altitude: 1450-1750 meters

Processing Method: Wine-sun-dried processing

Variety: Catimor

Menglian Tianyu Farmers Professional Cooperative

Menglian Dai, Lahu, and Wa Autonomous County is located in Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, bordering Myanmar to the west and south. This Yunnan coffee bean is produced in Menglian County. The average altitude here is 1500 meters, with large temperature differences between day and night, surrounded by mountain mist, making it very suitable for coffee growth. It is also the origin of championship beans in recent Yunnan small bean raw coffee competitions.

The cooperative was established in 2011. From its establishment, it established close relationships with surrounding coffee farmers, providing technical guidance, guiding local farmers in coffee cultivation, and investing funds to help them during the early fertilization stage. When the coffee matures, it is uniformly purchased for processing, which also avoids undesirable fermentation during long-distance transportation of fresh coffee fruits. Initially, the cooperative's main products were commercial coffee sold to large enterprises such as Nestlé and Starbucks. With the continuous development of Yunnan specialty coffee, the cooperative began experimenting with using fully red fruits to process specialty coffee in the 2014 production season.

Processing Method

Due to lack of experience and no proper guidance, the Yunnan coffee processed in the first two years either had insufficient fermentation - overall very clean but lacking sufficient flavor support; or over-fermentation - with flavors that were difficult to accept; or moisture wasn't prevented during drying, leading to serious phenol contamination in the coffee.

After two years of continuous learning from other estates and extensive experiments, the cooperative rebuilt the processing station in 2017. They updated the fermentation and cleaning systems, added sewage treatment facilities, and custom-made brand-new drying beds. Finally, in the 2017 production season, they produced several high-quality, pleasant-flavored wine-sun-dried and honey-processed batches.

This Yunnan coffee bean wine-sun-dried processing uses fully red fresh fruits, which are wrapped when half-dried on the drying beds for secondary fermentation. For honey processing, after pulping, the beans are placed in inner bags for 7 days of fermentation before being spread on drying beds for drying. The performance of these two beans in sweetness and cleanliness was very surprising to FrontStreet Coffee. Cleanliness and mouthfeel performance are almost the most important indicators we use to measure whether a bean is worth buying.

In addition to the wine-sun-dried processing method, what other wine fermentation processing methods exist? FrontStreet Coffee compares two Honduras barrel-fermented beans - Sherry barrel-fermented Sherry coffee and brandy barrel-fermented Lychee Orchid.

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Sherry

Country: Honduras

Region: Masaguara

Estate: Moka Estate

Altitude: 1500-1700m

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai, Pacas

Processing Method: Fine washed whiskey sherry barrel fermentation

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Lychee Orchid

Country: Honduras

Region: Masaguara

Estate: Moka Estate

Altitude: 1500-1700m

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai

Processing Method: Fine washed + brandy barrel fermentation

Masaguara

Masaguara is a municipality located in the Intibucá department of Honduras, situated in the southern part of the Jesús de Otoro valley, surrounded by mountains and hills. It is mainly dedicated to coffee growers and is the main engine of the local economy. The areas corresponding to the valley are dedicated to growing basic grains and livestock. The origin of its name: according to Mr. Alberto Membreño's "Indigenous Place Names," Masaguara means "place with deer."

Barrel Fermentation Principle

The coffee barrel fermentation method is inspired by wine fermentation technology. During the coffee fermentation process, the barrel allows a small amount of air to pass through the barrel wall and penetrate into the barrel, causing moderate oxidation of the coffee beans. The appropriate amount of oxygen entering also accelerates coffee fermentation, smooths tannic acids, and gradually transforms fresh fruit aromas into rich and varied mature wine aromas. The moderate hardness of the barrel ensures good waterproofness and storage safety. In addition, the barrel contains a certain amount of tannic acid. When raw coffee beans are stored, the tannic acid from the barrel will also penetrate into the raw beans inside, giving the coffee layers and a strong wine aroma. Recently, FrontStreet Coffee received a batch of Honduras Sherry whiskey barrel-processed beans. When opening the raw bean bag, we could smell strong vanilla cream and wine aroma.

Coffee Bean Processing Method Comparison

Both of FrontStreet Coffee's coffee beans undergo fine washing before barrel fermentation processing. The difference is that Frontsteet Sherry coffee beans are placed in whiskey oak barrels that have been aged with sherry wine for low-temperature fermentation for 30-40 days (temperature approximately 15-20℃), while Frontsteet Lychee Orchid coffee beans are placed in brandy barrels for fermentation processing. Finally, they undergo shade drying until the moisture content reaches about 11%.

Roasting Comparison

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Sherry

Roaster: Yangjia 800N (roasting amount 300 grams)

Enter pot at 190℃, heat 140, damper opened to 3; return point at 1'42", when furnace temperature reaches 140℃, open damper to 4, heat unchanged; when furnace temperature reaches 151.8℃, bean surface turns yellow, grass smell completely disappears, enter dehydration stage, when furnace temperature reaches 150℃, adjust heat to 120, damper unchanged;

At 8'38", ugly wrinkles and black patterns appear on the bean surface, toast smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'07", first crack begins, damper opened to 4, develop for 2'10" after first crack, remove from pot at 195℃.

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Lychee Orchid

FrontStreet Coffee, to better highlight the flavor of this bean and to achieve balanced overall performance, our roaster chose light roast. Bean entry temperature: 220℃, yellowing point: 5'50", 152.6℃, first crack point: 9'15", 183℃, develop for 2'10" after first crack, remove from oven at 195℃.

Brewing Flavor Comparison

Brewing Parameters

Filter: V60

Water temperature: 90℃

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: BG 5R (China standard 20 mesh sieve pass rate 80%)

Brewing Method

Use 30g of water for 30-second bloom, small water flow circular pour to 125g for segmentation, continue pouring to 225g when water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, stop pouring, wait for water level to drop and is about to expose the coffee bed, then remove the filter cup (timing starts from bloom), extraction time is 2'00".

Flavor Description

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Sherry: Entry has vanilla and cream aromas, citrus and berry acidity, middle section has almond and dark chocolate flavors, tail section has maple sweetness, aftertaste has vanilla aroma, distinct flavors, smooth mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Lychee Orchid: Entry has lychee, brandy, dark chocolate, cream. As temperature changes, wine taste and dark chocolate become obvious, thick mouthfeel, obvious sweetness in aftertaste.

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