Colombian Coffee Brewing: How to Bring Out Strawberry Aroma from Hacienda El Paraíso's Strawberry Coffee?

Recently, a strawberry coffee bean from Finca El Paraiso has caught the attention of coffee enthusiasts. Why is this coffee called "strawberry," and does it truly live up to its name? FrontStreet Coffee acquired this coffee bean for cupping and tested it using three different brewing methods to see how the flavors of this Paradise Strawberry perform.

Coffee Information

Region: Cauca, Colombia

Estate: Finca El Paraiso

Altitude: 1960m

Processing: Double Anaerobic Washed

Variety: Castillo

Growing Region

Cauca is a coffee origin certified region in Colombia with an average altitude of 1758m, rising up to 2100m at its highest points. The region's topography, precipitation, temperature, and volcanic soil create ideal conditions for coffee cultivation. Eighty percent of the area consists of mountainous terrain with parallel mountain ranges in the eastern and central parts, forming part of the Andes Mountains. The central range includes two main volcanoes, Sotara and Petacas. Similar to other southwestern producing regions, Cauca exhibits 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 next year.

Finca El Paraiso

Finca El Paraiso is a coffee estate that Mr. Diego Samuel began operating in 2008. Initially just a small 2.5-hectare family-owned estate, the owner invested the surplus from each harvest into coffee agriculture research and continuously explored how to better produce specialty flavors. In 2015, he participated in his first local competition and won first place. After gaining fame from this victory, he received recognition from the industry and became more motivated to promote specialty coffee cultivation. Through his company Indestec (Innovacion y Desarrollo Tecnologico para la Caficultura), Diego created new innovative technologies to improve and stabilize coffee quality. He says he likes to step out of his comfort zone because it constantly helps him progress.

Coffee Variety - Castillo

The most widely planted coffee variety in Colombia, Castillo is a cultivar developed in Colombia. It became popular due to its reputation for resistance to leaf rust disease. Beginning in 1961, CENICAFE began researching the Timor hybrid variety with Robusta genetics. CENICAFE continued its research efforts, releasing the second disease-resistant variety Tabi (a hybrid of Typica, Bourbon, and Timor) in 2002, and releasing the most successful disease-resistant variety to date, Castillo, in 2005. After the major leaf rust outbreak in 2008, Colombia began vigorously promoting Castillo cultivation.

Coffee Processing Method

Anaerobic fermentation has become a very popular processing method in recent years. Typically, coffee cherries are placed in an anaerobic environment for fermentation, then removed from the anaerobic environment for further processing. This method is called anaerobic fermentation.

After removing the coffee cherries from the anaerobic environment, the pulp is mechanically removed, and the coffee beans with mucilage are placed in plastic bags or other sealed containers for another round of anaerobic fermentation. This processing method, which undergoes two anaerobic fermentations, is called double anaerobic fermentation.

This Colombian Finca El Paraiso Strawberry undergoes double anaerobic washed processing. After experiencing two anaerobic fermentations, the coffee beans are removed from the anaerobic environment and washed to remove the mucilage layer, then dried in the sun until the moisture content reaches approximately 11%.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Notes

Dry Aroma: Yogurt

Wet Aroma: Strawberry Yogurt

Flavor: Strawberry yogurt, honey peach, strawberry sweet and sour, honey

How FrontStreet Coffee Brews Colombian Strawberry

To highlight the sweet fragrance of strawberry in this coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's roaster used a medium-light roast for these coffee beans. For brewing medium-light roasted beans, FrontStreet Coffee recommends 90-91°C water temperature. Using higher water temperature helps extract the aromatic compounds and acidity (strawberry sweetness and bright acidity) from light-roasted beans. Because medium-light roasted beans have a denser structure, increasing water temperature improves extraction efficiency and helps avoid sharp acidity.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters:

Water Temperature: 90-91°C

Coffee Amount: 15g

Grind Size: Fine sugar grind

V60 Brewing

The V60 conical dripper has a large opening, and its unique spiral rib design allows air to be discharged more easily, thereby improving extraction quality. The mouthfeel might not be as full-bodied, but its high concentration produces distinct sweetness and acidity with prominent aromas - one of its major characteristics.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique: First, pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Then pour 95g more (scale shows approximately 125g), finishing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows approximately 225g), finishing in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Complete extraction at 2'03", then remove the dripper.

V60 Brewing Flavor: Strawberry aroma, berry juice acidity, strawberry jam fermentation notes, honey aftertaste.

Cake Cup Brewing

This special design uses the creases in the filter paper instead of flow channels. The paper doesn't directly adhere to the dripper, reducing the direct contact area between paper and dripper while creating maximum extraction area. On one hand, this helps concentrate extraction, allowing hot water to filter down evenly and smoothly for better coffee extraction. On the other hand, it also slows down the cooling rate.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique: First, pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Then pour 95g more (scale shows approximately 125g), finishing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows approximately 225g), finishing in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Complete extraction at 1'55", then remove the dripper.

Cake Cup Brewing Flavor: Berry juice mouthfeel, strawberry yogurt, tea-like notes, honey aftertaste.

Origami Dripper Brewing

The Origami dripper is made of ceramic, providing better thermal conductivity and heat retention. The flow channels on the Origami dripper are vertical and relatively deep, with a large bottom outlet, resulting in a faster flow rate. The flat-bottom filter paper fits more closely with the dripper, which diminishes the effect of the dripper's flow channels and increases water retention, allowing the coffee grounds to steep. Additionally, because of the flat bottom, coffee grounds can be evenly distributed across the filter paper bottom, resulting in more uniform extraction.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique: Bloom with 33g of water for 30 seconds. Pour water to 120g in stages. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. (Timing starts from the beginning of the bloom) Extraction time: 1'56".

Origami Dripper Brewing Flavor: Strawberry juice, citrus acidity, honey aftertaste.