Colombian Pink Bourbon Coffee Production What's the Difference Between Pink Bourbon and Bourbon Coffee Varieties

Colombia 2021 Coffee Production Estimate

Due to suitable growing conditions and increased per-acre yield, Colombia's coffee production is expected to maintain at 14.1 million bags in the 2020/21 season. Coffee exports are projected to increase by 600,000 bags to 12.4 million bags, primarily to the United States and European Union countries. With growing domestic coffee consumption in the country, ending stocks are expected to decrease slightly.

Many of you are likely familiar with Red Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon coffee beans, but where did the adorable Pink Bourbon come from? FrontStreet Coffee is here to introduce you to this mysterious treasure - Pink Bourbon coffee beans from Colombia.

FrontStreet Coffee: Isabella Pink Bourbon Coffee Beans
Region: Huila, Colombia
Altitude: 1760m
Variety: Pink Bourbon
Processing: Semi-washed

Huilan Coffee Region

Huilan

Huilan Province is located in the southern part of the central mountain range in southern Colombia and is the country's most renowned specialty coffee region. This area consists of hills surrounded by mountains, with cultivation altitudes above 1,500 meters. FrontStreet Coffee has cupped many coffee beans from the Huilan coffee region. The coffee beans produced in Huilan exhibit soft fruit acidity in the front end, with pleasant sweetness in the back end, and excellent overall balance, suggesting that coffee beans from this region have strong versatility. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee believes that different bean processing methods will bring different surprises to the taste buds of this region's coffee beans.

Pink Bourbon

Pink Bourbon

As its name suggests, the coffee cherries of Pink Bourbon turn a romantic pink color when mature, making it a rare coffee variety. Pink Bourbon was first discovered in the town of Palestine in Huilan Province, Colombia, and is currently mainly cultivated in the Huilan region of Colombia.

Pink Bourbon Genetics

DNA

Pink Bourbon is a natural hybrid of Yellow Bourbon and Red Bourbon. Both Yellow Bourbon and Red Bourbon are dominant traits expressed through dominant genes, with relatively stable reproduction. However, the new variety Pink Bourbon, resulting from their hybridization, is a recessive trait expressed through recessive genes, and offspring produced through hybrid reproduction are highly prone to trait segregation.

There is another theory regarding Pink Bourbon's genetics. Some studies have found that Pink Bourbon is a natural hybrid of Colombia and Caturra. Caturra is a variant of Bourbon, while the Colombia variety, as a key coffee species promoted for cultivation in Colombia, has obvious advantages due to carrying some Robusta genes - high yield and resistance to leaf rust disease. However, its drawback is mediocre flavor performance and a lack of delicate acidity and sweetness.

The reason Pink Bourbon is considered a rare variety is mainly because maintaining this beautiful pink color is extremely difficult. Sometimes, orange Bourbon may be harvested, because the color of the coffee fruit is ultimately determined by the recessive genes within the pollen grains. Among the pollen grains selected by coffee farmers for hybridization, there are both yellow genes that tend toward Yellow Bourbon and red genes that tend toward Red Bourbon. All of these belong to recessive genes and are very easily interfered with by each other.

Pink Bourbon Yield

Plant Yield

Taking Pink Bourbon coffee from Colombia's Huilan region in the 2020 harvest season as an example, approximately 1,800 coffee trees were planted in the Huilan region in 2020. In one harvest season, each tree yielded about 1.8kg of fresh fruit, which after processing to remove the pulp and skin, resulted in about 0.36kg of coffee beans. In a normal harvest season, the total yield of this batch of coffee was less than 650kg.

At this point, some might ask FrontStreet Coffee, with such a small quantity, won't it be gone once it's all consumed? Not at all~ First, the natural hybridization of Yellow Bourbon and Red Bourbon to produce Pink Bourbon will not stop; second, almost all Arabica coffee is self-pollinating, meaning that the flower to be pollinated and the pollen may come from the same plant, or even the same flower, which greatly improves the stability of recessive trait expression. Therefore, when planting Pink Bourbon, a relatively independent growing environment is very necessary to avoid genetic contamination from other varieties.

Semi-Washed Processing

Semi-Washed

The Pink Bourbon coffee beans obtained by FrontStreet Coffee are processed using the semi-washed method. First, the harvested coffee cherries are poured into a pulper to remove the skin and pulp, taking out the parchment beans covered in mucilage. Then, they are poured into a mucilage remover, where a small amount of water is used to mechanically scrape off the sticky mucilage layer, taking out the smooth-surfaced parchment beans. Next, the coffee beans are dried or exposed to outdoor sunlight. Finally, when the moisture content of the coffee beans drops to 10%-14%, a huller is used to remove the silver skin and other substances adhering to the coffee beans, completing the semi-washed processing method.

FrontStreet Coffee finds that semi-washed processed coffee beans have slightly lower fruit acidity than washed beans, but higher acidity than natural processed beans; they have slightly less sweetness than honey processed beans, but better clarity than honey processed beans, with flavor profile介于 honey and washed processing.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Records

Because Pink Bourbon has such a unique flavor profile, to better explore the flavor potential of this bean, FrontStreet Coffee's roaster uses a medium-light roast for these coffee beans. When the drum temperature reaches 180°C, the beans are loaded, the air damper is set to 3, and the heat is at 120. At the turning point of 1'42", with the drum temperature at 140°C, the heat remains unchanged, and the air damper is opened to 4. At this point, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. At 176°C, the heat is reduced to 100, and at 180°C, the heat is reduced to 70, with the air damper remaining unchanged.

At 8'17", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, the toast aroma clearly transforms into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, one must listen carefully for the sound of the first crack. At 9'30", the first crack begins, the air damper is adjusted to 5 (heat adjustment must be very careful, not so small that there's no crackling sound), and after 1'30" of development after first crack, the beans are discharged at 191.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Report

The rare Pink Bourbon also performed exceptionally in FrontStreet Coffee's cupping. Unlike the relatively flat flavor characteristics of typical Bourbons, this Pink Bourbon has fresh floral aroma, juice-like sweetness of blueberry and green grapes, cherry notes in the mid-palate, and brown sugar-like sweetness in the finish. In terms of acidity, it predominantly presents a complex expression of citrus and berry fruits.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Tips

Dripper: Hario V60
Water temperature: 90°C
Coffee amount: 15 grams
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Grind size: Fine sugar (80% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction: bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. Using a small water stream, pour in a circular motion to 125g for the first segment. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper (timing starts from the beginning of blooming). The total extraction time is 2'00".

Brewing flavors: On the palate, there are notes of citrus, berries, and cherry tomatoes. As the temperature changes, caramel sweetness and light fermentation notes emerge. The aftertaste has floral and nutty cream aromas. The mouthfeel is smooth and clean.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473