Colombia Huila Pink Bourbon Pour-Over Parameters & How to Enjoy - Pink Bourbon Coffee Characteristics and Flavor

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Seasoned coffee enthusiasts know that the Bourbon coffee variety was originally discovered on Bourbon Island in Brazil. Bourbon variety coffee cherries are most commonly red, followed by orange and yellow, with the rarest being pink. However, it wasn't first discovered in Brazil but was found by coffee farmer Rodrigo Sanchez in the Huila region of Colombia. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce the characteristics, flavors, and pour-over parameters of pink Bourbon coffee to everyone.

Pink Bourbon Origin

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, Bourbon is a variety of coffee tree, belonging to a branch of the Arabica species. It is named according to the color of the coffee cherries when ripe, such as red, yellow, orange, and pink Bourbon. Among these, orange Bourbon has lower yields, while the pink Bourbon variety produces extremely limited quantities of coffee cherries.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, pink Bourbon is a natural hybrid of yellow Bourbon and red Bourbon. Both yellow Bourbon and red Bourbon are dominant traits expressed by dominant genes, with relatively strong breeding stability. However, the new variety pink Bourbon, resulting from their hybridization, is a recessive trait expressed by recessive genes, and offspring produced through hybrid breeding are prone to trait segregation.

There is also another theory about pink Bourbon: some research suggests that pink Bourbon is produced through natural hybridization of Colombia and Caturra varieties. Caturra is a variant of Bourbon, while the Colombia variety, as a key coffee tree species promoted for cultivation in Colombia, has obvious advantages due to carrying some Robusta genes - high yield and resistance to leaf rust disease. The drawback is its mediocre flavor performance and lack of delicate sweet and sour notes.

The reason pink Bourbon is considered a rare variety is mainly because maintaining this beautiful pink color is extremely difficult. Sometimes orange Bourbon cherries are harvested, which is because the color of coffee cherries is ultimately determined by the recessive genes in the pollen grains. Among the pollen grains selected by coffee farmers for hybridization, there are both yellow genes leaning toward yellow Bourbon and red genes leaning toward red Bourbon, all of which are recessive genes that easily interfere with each other.

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce the Colombian Huila pink Bourbon coffee beans currently available at FrontStreet Coffee!

FrontStreet Coffee Colombian Isabella Pink Bourbon Coffee Beans

Region: Colombia, Huila

Altitude: 1760m

Variety: Pink Bourbon

Processing: Semi-washed processing

Flavor: Citrus, berries, cherry tomatoes, caramel, fermented aroma, floral notes, nuts, cream.

FrontStreet Coffee has often mentioned in previous articles that the flavor of a coffee bean depends on its growing region characteristics, coffee variety, and processing method. After all, coffee beans are agricultural products, and their flavor is primarily influenced by the topography and climate of the growing region. For example, this pink Bourbon coffee bean comes from Huila, Colombia's most famous coffee-producing region.

Colombian Huila Coffee Region

Huila Province is located in the southern part of the Central Mountain Range in southern Colombia and is the country's most famous specialty coffee region. This area consists of hills surrounded by mountains, with cultivation altitudes above 1500 meters. FrontStreet Coffee has cupped many coffee beans from the Huila coffee region. Coffee beans produced in Huila have gentle fruit acidity in the front notes and pleasant sweetness in the aftertaste, with excellent overall balance, making people feel that coffee beans from this region have strong versatility. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee believes that using different green bean processing methods for coffee beans from this region will bring different surprises to the taste buds.

Semi-washed Processing Method

As introduced above, the pink Bourbon coffee beans obtained by FrontStreet Coffee use the semi-washed processing method. The processing flow of this method is: "First, pour the harvested coffee cherries into a pulp remover to remove the skin and pulp, taking out the parchment beans covered in mucilage. Next, pour into a mucilage scraper, using a small amount of water to mechanically scrape off the sticky mucilage layer, taking out smooth-surfaced parchment beans. Then dry the coffee cherries or expose them to outdoor sunlight. Finally, when the moisture content of the coffee cherries drops to 10%-14%, use a huller to remove the silver skin stuck to the coffee beans, and the semi-washed processing method is complete."

The above is the relevant information about this Colombian pink Bourbon coffee bean compiled by FrontStreet Coffee. As can be seen from the above, the unique flavor of Colombian pink Bourbon benefits from many factors. So how can its flavor be perfectly extracted and presented through pour-over coffee? For this reason, FrontStreet Coffee conducted several roasting and brewing tests before listing this bean to obtain the optimal roasting curve and pour-over parameters. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share the roasting and brewing parameters for this pink Bourbon coffee bean!

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Record

Because pink Bourbon has such a unique flavor profile, to better explore the flavor potential of this bean, FrontStreet Coffee's roaster uses a medium-light roast for these coffee beans. Heat the drum to 180°C and add the beans, with the air damper set to 3 and heat at 120. Return temperature at 1'42", when the drum temperature reaches 140°C, keep the heat unchanged and open the air damper to 4. At this point, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and it enters the dehydration stage. At 176°C, reduce the heat to 100, and at 180°C, reduce the heat to 70, keeping the air damper unchanged.

At 8'17", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'30", adjust the air damper to 5 (adjust heat very carefully, not too small to eliminate crackling sounds), develop for 1'30" after first crack, and discharge at 191.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Experience

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Coffee Dose: 15 grams

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:16

Grind Size: Medium-fine grind (BG 6k: 82% pass rate through Chinese standard #20 sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee uses staged extraction: bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. When pouring with a small circular water flow to 125g, create a stage break. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper (timing starts from the beginning of blooming). Extraction time is 2'00".

Brewing Flavor: The entrance has citrus, berries, and cherry tomatoes. With temperature changes, there's caramel sweetness and a light fermented aroma. The aftertaste has floral and nutty cream aromas, with a smooth and clean mouthfeel.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473