Introduction to Colombian Coffee La Pradera Estate in Santander - What is Anaerobic Honey Processing

FrontStreet Coffee: Colombia Santander La Pradera Anaerobic Honey Process Geisha

Colombia Santander La Pradera Anaerobic Honey Process Geisha.

Origin: Colombia

Region: Santander

Estate: La Pradera

Variety: Geisha

Altitude: 1900m

Processing: Anaerobic Honey Process

La Pradera Estate is devoted to specialty coffee, adjusting and refining for non-toxicity and quality through organic certification. Fifty years ago the farm plot was fertile land in the Chicamocha canyon of the Santander region; today it is a 100-hectare forest that shades more than 10 coffee varieties grown organically. The estate's mission is to track emerging market trends and meet customer needs while researching and developing equipment for better bean processing. The farm now has a dedicated coffee laboratory, which helps them find ways to cultivate and improve coffee quality.

Flavor notes: Floral, peach, cherry, candied fruit.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Gesha is the variety most responsible for the modern specialty coffee boom, and FrontStreet Coffee carries it from both of its homes. In Panama, where it became famous, FrontStreet Esmeralda Red Label Geisha — formally "Esmeralda Special" — is grown at 1,600-1,800 meters and must cup above 90 points, with every lot individually numbered and drawn from a single small plot. FrontStreet Esmeralda Green Label Geisha blends several plots to express the estate's signature high-altitude Gesha character at a more accessible price. For a first, easy step into the variety, FrontStreet Boquete Geisha offers the classic orange-blossom honey note with an oolong tea texture and fine fruit acidity.

Ethiopia, Gesha's birthplace, gives it a brighter, more overtly fruity accent. FrontStreet Grana Geisha is a rare single-variety Ethiopian estate lot, hand-picked and dried on raised beds for 14-20 days depending on the weather; roasted medium-light, it shows bright citrus acidity, elegant ginger flower and ripe fruit sweetness with a fine, silky texture. FrontStreet Gesha Village Gold Label, from the Gesha 1931 variety at roughly 10% of the village's production, and FrontStreet Gesha Village Red Label, the Gori Gesha variety at about 15% of production and scoring 88 or above on the SCA 100-point scale, take that character further. Because Gesha is a hard, medium-light roast bean that tends to sink and clog the drain hole, FrontStreet suggests grinding to about 78% pass-through on the Chinese standard #20 screen and brewing at 91°C — 15g in a small Hario V60 at a 1:16 ratio, poured in three stages to a total extraction time of about 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds.