Pour-Over Coffee Techniques for Colombian El Boton Estate Elephant Beans - Best Dripper for Elephant Beans

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FrontStreet Coffee · El Boton Estate Information and Story

El Boton Estate comes from the traditional producing region of Antioquia in central Colombia, where the terrain of overlapping mountains poses both challenges and protection for coffee cultivation. The Maragogype (Elephant Bean) produced by the estate is full-bodied. The high sweetness upon entry is surprising, with the fruity acidity of grapes and pomegranates and the mellow feeling of black tea, making this large-volume coffee bean full of substance.

El Boton Estate is located in the mountainous area of La Carmina in the southwestern part of Antioquia Province, Colombia. This region is considered the northwestern part of Colombia, belonging to the province bordering the Pacific Ocean region.

Since 1930, the Herran family has been producing Elephant Beans (Maragogipe) at this estate. Even though producing other new varieties could bring more yield than Elephant Beans, the Herran family still insists on producing only Elephant Beans to this day. This results in them being able to harvest only 600 bags per year (70kg per bag). Among coffee estates, producing only Elephant Beans is considered a rare insistence.

El Boton Estate reaches an altitude of 4,430 feet and has the rich, fertile soil of La Carmina. The density of coffee tree cultivation is very low, and all are grown under shade.

The coffee harvest season begins in October. Because only ripe red fruits are harvested, the harvesting period continues until January of the following year. El Boton Estate insists on harvesting only ripe fruits and conducting washed processing within the estate on the same day, adopting an environmentally friendly processing method with low water consumption for pulp removal and washed fermentation. The residual materials from the processing process are all used as fertilizer for coffee trees. The drying method after fermentation and washing is machine drying, using low temperature to dry the parchment coffee beans to 12% moisture content before moving them to Silos for storage, waiting for hulling and grading.

After hulling, women from the estate are responsible for the selection work of the green beans after hulling, removing defective materials and screening out the best green beans. This part is entirely manual work without using machines. In fact, Elephant Bean coffee beans are originally larger than general flat beans. Although completely manual screening is labor-intensive, the large beans are easy to pick, and manual work actually makes sense. Moreover, the production volume of this estate is originally very small.

FrontStreet Coffee · Maragogype Elephant Bean Coffee Variety Introduction

Maragogype Elephant Bean is three times the size of regular Arabica beans and is the largest coffee bean in the world.

Coffee flavor profile: strawberry, berry pulp sweetness, nutty aroma, gentle and full aroma, nutty aftertaste, slightly sweet and sour, with a smooth mouthfeel, overall good balance.

The Elephant Bean variety is a mutant variety extended from Typica. Elephant Beans grown at an altitude of 700-800 meters have ordinary taste without special characteristics, and are disliked by some gourmets. However, Matagalpa Elephant Beans grown above 1,000 meters are completely different.

When grown above 1,000 meters, they have a gentle and charming aroma, mild and stable taste, balanced sour, slightly bitter and sweet flavors, especially rich fruit aroma, smooth texture, which is very close to FrontStreet Coffee's elegant Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans, with sweetness in acidity, full body, becoming very charming.

The taste of Matagalpa Giant Elephant Bean is similar to FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans, but the price is only about 2/3 of Jamaica Blue Mountain, making the C/P value very high. It is also the only Elephant Bean that has been selected for the Cup of Excellence (COE) award in recent years, so some coffee shops sell it as Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee beans.

In fact, the quantity of Matagalpa Giant Elephant Beans is not large each year. Currently, only a few countries such as Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Brazil grow them in small quantities, with limited trade volume.

Washed Process Introduction

In response to the shortcomings of the traditional natural process, the washed process was developed. First, the harvested fruits are separated from the coffee beans using a depulping machine to remove most of the pulp. Then they are guided to a clean water tank and soaked in water for fermentation to completely remove the residual pulp layer. After completing fermentation, they are dried either by sun-drying or using machines to reduce the moisture content to 12%. Since the washed process has already removed the pulp, there is no need to worry about mold or insect pest problems during the drying process, unlike the natural process.

(↑ Depulping machine removing pulp) (↑ Soaking in water for fermentation) (↑ Spreading flat for drying)

Natural processed beans have rich and full flavors with very distinct and diverse layers, while washed processed beans have a very clean and refreshing taste with obvious fruit acidity. Different processing methods give coffee beans unique aromas.

Roasting Suggestions/Analysis

This FrontStreet Coffee Elephant Bean coffee variety is giant beans [FrontStreet Coffee Maragogipe] with relatively large particles but medium density. New season beans themselves have higher moisture content. During the roasting process, heat absorption is relatively slow, and the Maillard reaction process is also faster. Improper roasting can easily lead to undercooked inside and burnt outside, as well as loose and hollow flavors after roasting. The yellowing point is around 5 minutes. For the first roasting, you can try a slightly higher dropping temperature, such as 200°C, and also adjust the heat to a relatively higher level, then gradually reduce the heat according to needs during the roasting process: after the beans enter the yellowing point, reduce the heat to extend the dehydration time, allowing the giant beans to fully dehydrate; from completion of dehydration to before first crack, appropriately maintain medium heat or slightly increase heat to accelerate Maillard reaction time and ensure pressure before first crack; before the signs of first crack, appropriately reduce the heat to avoid bean surface scorching. With this operating method, the coffee's dehydration time is relatively extended, with a temperature increase rate of 6-8 degrees every thirty seconds, but it can still maintain entering first crack between the normal 8.5 to 9.5 minutes, preserving more floral and fruity aromas and retaining clean and bright acidity. It is generally recommended to drop the beans between the dense stage of first crack and the end of first crack, around medium roast.

However, roasting Maragogype Giant Elephant Beans requires some skill! Because this FrontStreet Coffee Colombia El Boton Estate coffee bean is about three times the size of regular Arabica beans, mastering heat penetration requires some skill. If the fire is too high, the surface color might look ready for dropping, but the inside might not be fully cooked, causing astringency when drinking. It might also be roasted for too long causing over-roasting, losing the Blue Mountain flavor. This mastery really requires some skill.

Cupping Flavor Description

Dry aroma: uplifting aroma, with floral notes, grassy aroma, floral essential oils

Wet aroma: caramel aroma, citrus sour aroma

Slurping flavor: oily mouthfeel, citrus and plum berry acidity with tropical fruit ripe sweetness, sour and sweet quite balanced,多变且持续的余韵

Brewing Analysis

Today we introduce FrontStreet Coffee's commonly used method for hand-pouring FrontStreet Coffee Colombia El Boton Estate Maragogype Elephant Bean coffee: V60 three-stage pour method.

Stage extraction, dividing all brewing water into three injections

Suitable for light roast, medium-light, and medium roast coffee beans

Using V60 filter cup

Increasing bloom time or number of water breaks can enhance the richness of coffee flavor.

The three-stage pour method of staged extraction

Advantages: More layered than single continuous pour, can clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back-end flavors of coffee. The method is to increase the amount of water each time after blooming, usually pouring when the coffee liquid is about to drop to the surface of the powder layer, using small, medium, and large water flows for three-stage extraction.

Disadvantages: Requires higher standards for water flow rate and volume.

FrontStreet Coffee Colombia El Boton Estate Maragogype Elephant Bean Coffee Hand-pour Parameter Suggestions

Using V60 filter cup for brewing can enhance the layered flavor of hand-pour, making it taste richer and cleaner; fully expressing the rich fruit aroma of the Maragogype Elephant Bean variety and the gentle, full nutty aroma.

15g of powder, water temperature 89-90°C, grind BG 5R (Chinese standard 20 mesh sieve pass rate 64%), water-to-powder ratio close to 1:15

Method: 30g water for bloom, bloom time 30s. The hot water in the pour-over kettle should circle clockwise around the center of the filter cup. Start timing when brewing begins, pour water to 30g, then stop pouring, wait 30 seconds for the first pour.

For the first pour, circle like before, the speed can be slightly slower, speed up a bit when reaching the outer circle, break water at around 1:15 seconds, wait for the liquid level to drop by 1/3, then pour again. For the second pour, focus on the center, avoid the water flow hitting the connection between coffee powder and filter paper to prevent channeling effects. End extraction at around 2:05 seconds, the tail section can be omitted (the longer the time, the more astringency and rough texture will increase).

Stages: 30-125-230g

END

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