Colombia Cauca El Paraiso Introduction to Double Anaerobic Bourbon

FrontStreet Coffee - Colombia Cauca El Paraiso Anaerobic Natural Bourbon

Colombia Cauca El Paraiso

Colombia Cauca El Paraiso

Region: Cauca

Altitude: 2050 meters

Processing Method: Anaerobic Natural

Grade: SUPREMO

Variety: Bourbon

Colombia Cauca

Colombia is currently the world's third-largest coffee-producing country, surpassed only by Brazil and Vietnam. Commercial coffee cultivation began in the 1830s, and by the 20th century, coffee had become the largest export agricultural commodity. The country's mountainous terrain combined with diverse tropical microclimates provides ideal growing conditions. With 75% of total production sold abroad, coffee has become the most important source of foreign exchange income.

The main coffee-producing regions within Colombia include: Huila (San Augustin), Nariño, Tolima, Popayán (Cauca), Valle del Cauca, Meta, Antioquia (Medellín), Magdalena (Sierra Nevada), Boyacá, and Santander (Bucaramanga).

Cauca is a Colombian coffee origin-certified region with an average altitude of 1,758 meters, reaching up to 2,100 meters at its highest points. The region's topography, precipitation, temperature, and volcanic soil create ideal conditions for coffee cultivation. With 80% mountainous terrain, the eastern and central areas feature parallel mountain ranges that are part of the Andes Mountains. The central mountain system includes two main volcanoes, Sotara and Petacas. Similar to other southwestern producing regions, Cauca experiences a distinct monomodal precipitation pattern, with a dry season primarily occurring from August to September each year. The subsequent rainy season brings concentrated coffee flowering, followed by a concentrated coffee harvest season the following year.

El Paraiso Farm

Finca El Paraiso is a coffee farm that Mr. Diego Samuel began operating in 2008. Initially just a small 2.5-hectare family farm, the owner invested the surplus from each harvest into coffee agricultural research and continuously explored how to better produce specialty flavors.

In 2015, he participated in local regional competitions for the first time and won first place. This victory brought industry recognition and motivated him to further promote the cultivation of specialty coffee.

Through his company Indestec (Innovación y Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Caficultura), Diego created new innovative techniques to improve and stabilize coffee quality. He says he likes to step out of his comfort zone because this continually helps him improve.

El Paraiso Farm currently primarily grows Bourbon, Laurina, Gesha, Castillo, and other varieties, and is planning to experiment with more different varieties.

Processing Method: Anaerobic Natural

Anaerobic fermentation has been an extremely popular post-processing method in recent years. It typically involves placing coffee cherries in sealed containers or in washing tanks to ferment in water. During this process, different microorganisms are used for fermentation to create special flavors. After fermentation is complete, these coffee cherries are then dried in the sun.

Characteristics of Anaerobic Fermentation Processing

Using stainless steel containers (which do not absorb previous coffee bean flavors) to hold coffee cherries allows for cleaner flavors.

Fermentation in a sealed environment makes various factors easier to control, allowing coffee beans processed each time to be more consistent, and aromatic substances are less likely to volatilize.

Fermentation in an oxygen-free environment results in smoother flavors, often bringing cheese and cream aromas.

Coffee beans processed using this method typically have fuller body and wine-like aromas.

Bourbon Variety

This coffee bean is of the Bourbon variety.

Bourbon is a branch within the Arabica species, a variant of early Typica (pre-coffee history) after being introduced to Yemen, with the bean shape changing from slender and pointed to round. In 1715, after France introduced the round Yemen Mocha beans to Bourbon Island on the east coast of Africa (renamed Réunion Island after the French Revolution), it was named Bourbon. Bourbon round beans were introduced to Brazil and Central and South America in 1727, and in 1732, Britain introduced Yemen Mocha to St. Helena Island (later where Napoleon was imprisoned), also using Bourbon round beans. Bourbon is the consistent winner in American specialty coffee cupping competitions.

The raw beans appear to have noticeably uneven colors and smell of faint fermentation and grass aromas.