How to Brew Rose Valley Flower Moon Night Coffee Beans for Great Taste? Introduction to Enzyme Washed and Natural Processing Methods

With the development of the times, people's requirements for the flavor and mouthfeel of coffee beans are getting higher and higher. The original regional flavors brought by simply washed and natural processing methods can no longer meet everyone's needs. Therefore, special processing methods for coffee beans are emerging endlessly today. FrontStreet Coffee will now introduce you to a popular coffee bean special processing method in recent years: anaerobic processing.

Understanding Anaerobic Fermentation

Anaerobic fermentation processing is actually about letting coffee beans ferment in an oxygen-free or low-oxygen environment. Anaerobic processing is a broad category, which can be specifically divided into anaerobic natural, anaerobic enzyme washed, anaerobic double washed, and anaerobic honey processing. You might find these processing methods very unfamiliar, but even traditional washed and natural processing methods involve fermentation processes.

FrontStreet Coffee will simply explain that during the fermentation processing of the three major coffee bean processing methods, like in traditional washed processing, the outer skin and pulp of the coffee are generally removed, and then soaked in water for 12-18 hours. At this time, the pectin will be decomposed, which is a fermentation process without human factors or addition of specific enzymes. The coffee beans naturally ferment in the natural environment, which is what FrontStreet Coffee calls natural fermentation. The same applies to the natural process, where the pulp and skin of the coffee are retained, and during the natural drying process of two to four weeks, the pectin continuously ferments naturally in the natural environment, again without human interference, so the sweetness and aroma in the natural process are generally more abundant.

The Challenge of Natural Fermentation

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, these are all natural fermentations, making it very difficult to control the flavor of coffee, so there are many uncertain factors. For example, in washed processing, during the pool fermentation process, whether it will over-ferment, causing the coffee beans to become too acidic, or in the natural process, whether the drying time will be too long, causing the pectin fermentation process to produce other undesirable flavors, all of which are very difficult to control and can only rely on nature. Therefore, anaerobic fermentation processing emerged. Its processing method generally involves putting coffee beans in a pressure-resistant sealed stainless steel barrel, and achieving the desired coffee flavor by artificially controlling temperature, time, pH value, and the required fermentation process. FrontStreet Coffee store also has many types of anaerobic fermentation processed coffee beans.

Anaerobic Natural Processing Example

FrontStreet Coffee will take a FrontStreet Coffee Huayuanye coffee bean from the Huila region of Colombia to introduce the general artificial fermentation process. First, freshly harvested coffee cherries with defective beans removed are directly put into a sealed fermentation barrel for low-temperature fermentation, with temperatures between 10-15 degrees. In an anaerobic environment, the decomposition rate of pectin sugars will slow down because the low-temperature environment will inhibit microbial growth. Therefore, the fermentation time of coffee beans is longer than that of traditional natural processing, with increased sweetness. After more than three days of anaerobic fermentation, the coffee cherries in the barrel are then naturally processed, and after drying is completed, the skin and pulp are removed and can be stored in the warehouse. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee found through cupping that the sweetness of this FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Huayuanye coffee is very obvious, somewhat like strawberry jam flavor, with a hint of fermented wine aroma.

Anaerobic Washed Processing

Of course, washed processing can also be controlled to perform anaerobic washed processing. The anaerobic washed process is more complex than the anaerobic natural process. First, mature cherry coffee fruits are harvested and placed directly in woven bags for 12 hours of dry fermentation, and then after fermentation is completed, the skin and pulp are removed for a second round of 24-hour fermentation. In the second round of fermentation, the coffee beans are transferred to plastic barrels and sealed for fermentation, avoiding air entry. After the second round of fermentation is completed, the coffee beans are placed on drying beds for about a month until the moisture content of the coffee beans drops to 11%-13%, and that's it. FrontStreet Coffee, through cupping comparison of anaerobic natural and anaerobic washed processed coffee beans, found that the acidity of anaerobic washed is brighter than anaerobic natural, but the sweetness of anaerobic natural is more obvious, and the aroma is richer.

Enzyme Processing: Anaerobic Enzyme Washed

Both processing methods introduced by FrontStreet Coffee above are through controlling the time and temperature of the environment. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce to you the process of adding certain bacterial strains during fermentation to promote the fermentation process. This is coffee bean enzyme processing, specifically called anaerobic enzyme washed processing.

The coffee bean enzyme processing process is roughly similar to the anaerobic washed process, with the only difference being that in the second fermentation process of anaerobic fermentation processing, that is, when the coffee fruits are moved to a sealed barrel, special enzyme groups are added to ferment to promote the coffee fermentation process. The subsequent steps are consistent with the anaerobic washed fermentation process mentioned by FrontStreet Coffee. A FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Dashu Estate Rose Valley coffee launched by FrontStreet Coffee uses coffee bean enzyme processing.

FrontStreet Coffee's Rose Valley Analysis

FrontStreet Coffee is very interested in this FrontStreet Coffee Rose Valley coffee bean processed with anaerobic enzymes. When FrontStreet Coffee roasted this FrontStreet Coffee Rose Valley coffee, they roasted three different roasting curves, each with different flavors. After roasting was completed, FrontStreet Coffee cupped these three curves within 8-24 hours. FrontStreet Coffee found through cupping that Curve 1 had relatively excellent overall flavor, with very rich peach and cranberry flavors and prominent aroma, similar to peach flavor. Compared to Curve 1, Curve 2 had a lighter aroma and a bit of astringency. As for Curve 3, the flavor layers of the beans were not obvious enough, only tasting liquor-filled chocolate, and the mouthfeel was more bitter than the previous two curves. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee will prepare to launch Curve 1 of FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Rose Valley coffee. However, before launching, FrontStreet Coffee will also use pour-over to brew Curve 1 to confirm the cupped flavors.

Brewing Parameters

FrontStreet Coffee chose 15 grams of coffee beans for brewing this anaerobic enzyme processed FrontStreet Coffee Rose Valley coffee bean, with a medium-fine grind degree, powder-to-water ratio of 1:15, and selected the common Hario V60 dripper. The cone-shaped dripper enhances the coffee's layering, and the water temperature was selected at 91 degrees Celsius.

Brewing Technique

The first injection of 30 grams of water for blooming, with a blooming time of 30 seconds, aims to properly release carbon dioxide and avoid excessive carbon dioxide content affecting extraction. The second injection of 100 grams of water, plus the blooming water amount, injects to 130 grams, evenly injected in circles to strengthen the front and middle extraction and enhance the extraction of small molecule substances in the front and middle sections. After injection, wait 10 seconds, then inject the remaining 95 grams of water, evenly injected in circles, and finally inject 25 grams vertically in the center to avoid excessive turbulence extracting too much bitterness from the later sections.

Tasting Notes

After brewing is complete, you can taste this specially processed FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Rose Valley coffee. Initially, its acidity is quite obvious, somewhat similar to citrus acidity. In the rich layers, the middle section is somewhat similar to dark berries, with caramel cocoa, and the remaining aroma in the aftertaste is a fermented feeling similar to fermented fruits. The medium temperature part is more like berry flavors, accompanied by dark chocolate flavors, and the aftertaste is still fermented, with a lingering aftertaste. In the low temperature part, dark berries dominate, sweetness increases, dark chocolate and fermented feeling coexist, and the continuous fermented feeling in the aftertaste is reminiscent of whiskey, faintly visible, making one think of liquor-filled chocolate.

Important Notice :

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