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

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As the coffee industry develops, ever more novel processing methods appear. At FrontStreet Coffee our bean list covers essentially every mainstream method, and the most talked-about this year are undoubtedly anaerobic and wine fermentations. We currently stock several anaerobic and wine-processed coffees, and they are hugely popular with customers in our shop. It makes sense: these methods produce aromatics that are striking and memorable. This Yunnan Menglian small-bean coffee is processed by wine sun-drying, with very special flavors - fermented red wine and dried longan aromas, honeyed 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 lies in Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, bordering Myanmar to the west and south. This coffee comes from Menglian County, where the average altitude is 1500 meters; wide day-night temperature swings and surrounding mountain mist make it ideal coffee country - and it has produced champion beans in recent Yunnan green-bean competitions.

The cooperative was established in 2011 and from the start built close relationships with surrounding farmers: providing technical guidance, teaching coffee cultivation, and investing funds to help farmers through the early fertilization stage. When the coffee matures it is purchased and processed uniformly, avoiding the unwanted fermentation that long-distance transport of fresh cherries can cause. Initially the cooperative sold mostly commercial coffee to large enterprises such as Nestle and Starbucks. As Yunnan specialty coffee developed, it began experimenting with fully red fruit for specialty lots in the 2014 production season.

Processing Method

Those first two years were hard lessons: lacking experience and proper guidance, the coffee either under-fermented - very clean overall but without enough flavor support - or over-fermented into flavors difficult to accept; sometimes moisture crept in during drying, causing serious phenolic taint.

After two years of learning from other estates and extensive experiments, the cooperative rebuilt the processing station in 2017: new fermentation and washing systems, sewage-treatment facilities, and custom-made drying beds. In the 2017 production season they finally produced several high-quality, delightful wine sun-dried and honey-processed batches.

For the wine sun-dried processing, fully red fresh fruit is used, wrapped for secondary fermentation when half-dried on the beds. For the honey process, the beans are pulped, held in inner bags for 7 days of fermentation, then spread on drying beds. Their sweetness and cleanliness surprised even FrontStreet Coffee - and cleanliness and mouthfeel are nearly the most important yardsticks we use to judge whether a bean is worth buying.

Besides wine sun-drying, what other wine-fermentation methods exist? FrontStreet Coffee compares two Honduran barrel-fermented beans: Sherry, fermented in whiskey barrels, and Lychee Orchid, fermented in brandy barrels.

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 in Honduras's Intibuca department, in the southern part of the Jesus de Otoro valley, ringed by mountains and hills. It lives mainly from coffee growing, the engine of the local economy; the valley floor is devoted to staple grains and livestock. According to Alberto Membreno's work on indigenous place names, "Masaguara" means "place with deer."

Barrel Fermentation Principle

Coffee barrel fermentation borrows from wine-making. As the coffee ferments, the barrel lets a little air pass through its walls, moderately oxidizing the beans. That measured oxygen accelerates fermentation, smooths tannic acids, and gradually turns fresh fruit aromas into rich, varied mature wine notes. The wood's moderate hardness ensures good waterproofing and safe storage; and because the barrel itself holds a certain amount of tannic acid, storing raw beans inside lets that tannin migrate into them, adding layers and a strong wine aroma. When FrontStreet Coffee recently opened a bag of the Honduras Sherry whiskey-barrel beans, strong vanilla-cream and wine aromas rose straight out of it.

Processing Method Comparison

Both FrontStreet beans are fine washed before barrel fermentation. The difference: the Sherry beans go into whiskey oak barrels previously aged with sherry wine for low-temperature fermentation of 30-40 days (at roughly 15-20°C), while the Lychee Orchid beans ferment in brandy barrels. Both are then shade-dried to about 11% moisture.

Roasting Comparison

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Sherry

Roaster: Yangjia 800N (batch size 300 grams)

Charge at 190°C, heat 140, damper at 3; turning point at 1'42". At 140°C open the damper to 4, heat unchanged. At 151.8°C the bean surface yellows, the grassy smell disappears completely, and the drying stage ends; at 150°C reduce heat to 120, damper unchanged.

At 8'38" deep wrinkles and dark markings appear on the bean surface and the toast smell clearly turns to coffee aroma - the prelude to first crack; now listen carefully. First crack begins at 9'07"; open the damper to 4 and develop for 2'10" after first crack, dropping at 195°C.

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Lychee Orchid

To better showcase this bean and keep the whole cup balanced, our roaster chose a light roast. Charge temperature 220°C; yellowing point 5'50" at 152.6°C; first crack at 9'15" at 183°C; develop for 2'10" after first crack; drop at 195°C.

Brewing Flavor Comparison

Brewing Parameters

Filter: V60

Water temperature: 90°C

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

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

Brewing Method

Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds; pour in small circles to 125g and pause; continue to 225g when the level drops and is about to expose the bed; stop pouring, wait for the level to drop again, then remove the dripper (timing from the start of the bloom) - extraction time 2'00".

Flavor Description

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Sherry: vanilla and cream on entry, citrus and berry acidity, almond and dark chocolate through the middle, maple sweetness toward the tail, and a vanilla-tinged aftertaste - distinct flavors and a smooth mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee · Honduras Lychee Orchid: lychee, brandy, dark chocolate, and cream on entry; as it cools, wine notes and dark chocolate come forward; thick mouthfeel with obvious sweetness in the aftertaste.

For more specialty coffee bean information, stay tuned to FrontStreet Coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Curious about Yunnan beyond this wine-processed Menglian lot? FrontStreet Yunnan Small Bean from Baoshan is the ideal starting point: washed and medium roasted, it brings soft nut and chocolate sweetness with a touch of plum acidity at a friendly price - many people's very first taste of Yunnan coffee. (Yunnan Arabica itself dates back to 1904, when Typica seeds were first planted in Zhugula Village, Binchuan County.) For a more refined expression, the FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan sun-dried Typica - grown on FrontStreet's own estate at 1,300 meters, an ancient pure-Arabica variety - offers cleaner texture with citrus and berry tones, a whisper of fermented wine aroma, caramel sweetness, and a creamy finish after medium roasting.

Brew the washed Small Bean to highlight its caramel edge while keeping some acidity, and let the sun-dried Typica show its fuller, sweeter side - between the three of them, this wine-processed Menglian included, you'll taste just how far Yunnan specialty coffee has come.