Introduction to Costa Rica's San Ramon Monster Estate - What is Anaerobic Fermentation Natural Processing

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Christmas and Coffee: The Perfect Pairing

What comes to mind when you think of Christmas? Snow-covered roads, gentle Christmas carols, warm-toned cafés in churches, or warm milk coffee sprinkled with cinnamon powder? For FrontStreet Coffee, it's the Costa Rica Monster Manor coffee beans, rich with cinnamon and caramel aromas, that we've acquired these past few days. Cinnamon always evokes thoughts of Christmas—fragrant roasted chicken, adorable gingerbread men, and heartwarming mulled wine all incorporate cinnamon, elevating the food itself with an unforgettable aroma. However, this single-origin coffee bean that FrontStreet Coffee acquired isn't infused with cinnamon powder; instead, it achieves its cinnamon aroma expression through anaerobic natural processing.

FrontStreet Coffee — Costa Rica Monster Manor · Cinnamon

Region: Costa Rica, West Valley, San Ramon

Manor: Monster Manor

Processing: Anaerobic Natural

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai

Altitude: 1300m

West Valley · San Ramon Region

The West Valley saw immigrants from the Central Valley. By the late 19th century, they utilized the rich climate and soil to bring coffee crops and settle here. Since then, coffee has made significant contributions to the social and economic development of the West Valley, forming values and culture based on family unity. The West Valley is bordered by Poas and Barva volcanoes to the east, and San Ramon and Turrubares mountains to the west. Unlike other regions, the West Valley features moderate slope gradients, with an average cultivation altitude of 1000-1600 meters, helping maintain soil depth and quality. Due to the influence of more Pacific air currents, temperatures in the West Valley are often cooler than other regions at higher altitudes. The average annual relative humidity reaches as high as 81%, with abundant rainfall and an average annual temperature of 21.5°C, enabling vigorous crop growth in this region and facilitating the cultivation of high-altitude quality coffee.

In the San Ramon region, there are nearly 10 farmer cooperatives. 2018 was destined to be an extraordinary year for small farmers in San Ramon. After 14 years of effort, their coffee finally made it to Costa Rica's stage. In this competition, the emerging anaerobic natural processing method helped them leap to the fourth place in the Cup of Excellence (COE). This was also the first time COE judges in Costa Rica evaluated coffee beans processed with anaerobic natural methods. However, their glory didn't end there. At the 2020 Amsterdam WBC World Barista Championship, Mr. Mathieu from Switzerland chose this magical coffee full of cinnamon flavor that FrontStreet Coffee acquired, helping him secure third place.

Monster Manor

La Minilla Monster Manor is located in San Ramon, Santiago de Costa Rica, and has a history of over one hundred years. The manor owner's family originally lived in Heredia, Costa Rica's Central Valley. Due to the eruption of Poas volcano, the entire family migrated to San Ramon in the West Valley to start a new life. The manor is situated at 1100m to 1350m in the West Valley's San Ramon area, surrounded by mountains with fertile soil, making it highly suitable for coffee cultivation. Through 14 years of effort, they finally achieved excellent results in Costa Rica's 2018 Cup of Excellence competition! The manor owner said: "All of this comes from the hardworking partners in the manor who strive every day to make the coffee quality better!"

Coffee Varieties

Caturra & Catuai

This Monster Manor coffee bean that FrontStreet Coffee acquired uses the most common Caturra and Catuai varieties in Central America. Caturra is a natural variant of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant is not as tall as Bourbon, being more compact. Due to inheriting Bourbon lineage, it has relatively weak disease resistance but higher yields than Bourbon.

Catuai is a coffee variety artificially hybridized from Caturra and Mundo Novo. Catuai has good resistance to natural disasters, particularly wind and rain. Catuai trees are relatively low-growing. Compared to other coffee trees, Catuai fruits grow more firmly and are not easy to pick. The fruits come in both red and yellow varieties.

Anaerobic Natural Processing

This Monster Manor coffee bean uses anaerobic natural processing. Freshly harvested coffee cherries are placed in sealed fermentation tanks for low-temperature fermentation, where the temperature must be maintained below 10-15°C. In an anaerobic environment, the decomposition rate of pectin sugars slows down, and pH values decrease more slowly, extending fermentation time to develop better sweetness and more balanced flavors.

During the fermentation process, pH value is an important reference indicator. Temperature and pH changes must be strictly controlled. When the sugars in the pectin and mucilage are just completely consumed, the fermentation is immediately stopped by opening the container, and the beans are promptly dried under sunlight to avoid over-fermentation. FrontStreet Coffee believes that coffee beans processed with anaerobic natural methods have rich acidity along with full, rounded coffee flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roaster uses a Yangjia 800N (roasting capacity 480g): Preheat to 175°C, set heat at 130, air vent at 3; Return to temperature point at 1'36", when furnace temperature reaches 113°C, open air vent to 4, maintaining heat unchanged; When furnace temperature reaches 152.5°C, the bean surface turns yellow, grass aroma completely disappears, entering dehydration stage, reduce heat to 110.

At 9'00", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 10'12", first crack begins, open air vent to 5, develop for 1'45" after first crack, discharge at 196.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Report

FrontStreet Coffee conducts cupping of samples 8 hours after each roasting batch, using 200ml standard cupping bowls, with grind size passing through #20 standard sieve at 70%-75% rate, using 11.1g of coffee. Water TDS is 120ppm, water temperature at 94°C. First grind and smell the dry aroma, then add water to fill the bowl. Confirm wet aroma, break crust and remove grounds after 4 minutes, then conduct flavor evaluation.

Dry Aroma: Cinnamon

Wet Aroma: Cinnamon, Caramel

Flavor: Grape, Cherry, Gingerbread, Cinnamon, Caramel, Honey

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Tips

Coffee Dose: 15g

Grind Size: Medium-fine (80% pass rate through #20 standard sieve)

Coffee to Water Ratio: 1:15

Water Temperature: 90°C

Dripper: V60 #01

FrontStreet Coffee uses a three-stage brewing method. First, preheat the dripper and server. Pour in 15g of coffee grounds, tap gently to level the surface. Begin the first pour, pouring 30g of water in the center in a circular motion for a 30-second bloom. The ideal state is that all coffee grounds are evenly moistened, forming a small "coffee dome." After 30 seconds, begin the second pour. In this stage, maintain a water column height of 3-5cm, pouring 95g of water in concentric circles from center outward, totaling 125g. The coffee liquid surface should appear entirely golden coffee foam. When the coffee bed is about to be exposed, begin the final pour of 100g, slowly drawing concentric circles while maintaining consistent water flow. When all coffee liquid has dripped into the server, remove the dripper and end extraction. Total time is 2 minutes and 5 seconds.

Monster Manor Coffee Bean Brewing Flavor: Initial notes of grape's sweet and sourness, cinnamon and gingerbread aromas, caramel sweetness, mid-palate cherry juice, honey-like aftertaste.

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473