The Story, Characteristics, and Flavor Notes of 2020 New Season Bolivia Alpaca Estate Natural Java Coffee Beans

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FrontStreet Coffee - Bolivia Alpaca Estate Coco Natural Java Coffee Beans

Region: La Paz Caravani, Bolivia

Estate: Alpaca Estate

Altitude: 1600-1900m

Variety: Java

Processing: Coco Natural Processing

Bolivia Coffee

Towering peaks that pierce the clouds, dreamlike salt lakes, grasslands rich in wildlife resources... The superior natural environment and resources have made this place the cradle of coffee. Among coffee-producing countries in South America, Bolivia's coffee production may be insignificant, but this beautiful nation brings the world specialty coffee as charming as its scenery. Therefore, local people proudly call Bolivian coffee "the taste of paradise."

Unlike other coffee-producing regions, Bolivian coffee requires driving for several hours from cities at 3600 meters, descending all the way to areas below 2000 meters altitude to grow coffee. Among these, the North Yungas Road is recognized as the world's most dangerous road. The mountain road basically hugs the cliff edge without guardrails, and with foggy conditions, accidents frequently occur, earning it the nickname "Death Road."

La Paz Caravani Region

Bolivia's most famous region is La Paz, including Caravani, Yungas, Inquisivi, and other areas. Caravani is located near North Yungas, with coffee grown at altitudes of 1600-1900m, leading to the hilly terrain of the Andes Mountains.

Alpaca Estate (FINCA LA LLAMA)

The estate is named after Bolivia's adorable alpacas. Although the estate area is not large, its products are world-renowned. Here you'll find all the natural resources suitable for coffee growth: high altitude, fertile soil, and lush forests. The estate owner hopes to use this estate to demonstrate modern planting techniques and concepts to local farmers, showing them that new coffee trees can coexist with old ones.

Bolivia Java

The Java coffee from Alpaca Estate is popular every season due to its unique flavor profile. Through genetic comparison, it was discovered that Bolivia's Java actually comes from a branch called Abysinia from Ethiopia - a primitive ancient variety.

Unlike Indonesian Java, Indonesian Java has evolved over hundreds of years to adapt to low-altitude environments, losing the inherent advantageous genes of the Java variety, and the genetic source is not from the same branch.

Bolivian Java and Geisha share the same branch and origin, both possessing excellent floral and fruity flavors. FrontStreet Coffee observed that Bolivian Java coffee beans are slender and pointed at both ends, while Geisha beans are slightly shorter and more rounded in comparison.

Coco Natural Processing

Due to consistently low local temperatures, coffee beans cannot be dried through traditional natural processing methods. Therefore, estate owner Pedro has been continuously innovating and trying different processing techniques, discovering that cocoa dryers can slowly and continuously dry coffee beans at low temperatures, thereby reducing the impact of weather conditions.

After selection and weighing, coffee cherries are carefully washed and placed on raised African drying beds, then turned every hour. After about a week, the coffee cherries are placed in cocoa dryers. The coffee beans are placed in large steel barrels at temperatures not exceeding 40°C for about 35 hours, turned every 30 minutes. After drying, the estate uses mechanical equipment for careful coffee hulling and sorting, in addition to requiring manual sorting under ultraviolet and natural light.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Recommendations

Enter the drum at 155°C, heat at 120, damper open at 3; Return to temperature point at 1'32", when drum temperature reaches 140°C, open damper to 4, heat unchanged; When drum temperature reaches 152°C, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage;

At 8'00", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. When drum temperature reaches 180°C, reduce heat to 100, at which point you must listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'28", first crack begins, adjust damper to 5. Develop for 1'20" after first crack, discharge at 193°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Report

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Experience

Dripper: Hario V60

Dose: 15g

Ratio: 1:15

Grind: Medium-fine (77% retention on #20 standard sieve)

Water Temperature: 90°C

This time using segmented brewing, first pour 30g of water for 30-second bloom. In the second segment, pour 125g of water in small circles from the center, with gentle pouring force to minimize agitation of the coffee bed, with flow rate at 4g per second. When the water level drops to 1/2 of the coffee bed, begin the third pour. This segment is also gently poured in circles from the center outward until reaching 225g total. End extraction when all coffee liquid has dripped through, at 2'00" total time. After brewing completes, gently shake to ensure the coffee is well mixed before tasting.

Brewing Flavor: Aroma of orange blossom, pineapple-like acidic fragrance, smooth as berry juice, melon seed fragrance, and caramel-like aftertaste. Full-bodied with noticeable sweetness.

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