World Coffee Champion Sasa's 2022 Pour-Over Coffee Competition: The Role of High-Tech Coffee Ice Stones

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Sasa Sestic's Surprise Entry into Pour-over Competition

Sasa Sestic, who won the espresso championship at the 2015 World Barista Championship (WBC), has surprisingly entered a pour-over competition! Just recently, Sasa, who hasn't made public appearances for quite some time, participated in the 2022 Australian Brewers Cup with his experimental batch Geisha coffee beans from the Iris Estate, which he established together with Jamison Savage, owner of Panama's Deborah Estate.

Evolution of Coffee Processing

In the seven years since Sasa won the WBC championship with his Rumid Sudan coffee beans processed using the carbonic maceration method (hereafter referred to as CM), which he developed together with the owner of Colombia's La Nubes coffee estate, he has been dedicated to researching CM behind the scenes.

When interviewed about why he didn't continue participating in competitions, Sasa answered: "To return to competition, I need a genuine and honest reason."

Since the emergence of CM processing, more and more competitors have chosen anaerobically fermented coffee beans for world-class coffee competitions. By the 2021 WBC, over 80% of participants used experimental specialty processed coffee beans (with anaerobic processing being the most common), while less than 20% used traditional processing methods.

- Han Huaizong, "The Fourth Wave of Specialty Coffee"

Focusing on Terroir and Volatile Compounds

During the explosion of anaerobic fermentation processing, Sasa didn't rush but instead spent several years focusing on studying volatile compounds in coffee. The greatest charm of CM processing lies in eliminating aerobic bacteria in the fermentation environment through carbon dioxide injection, allowing lactic acid bacteria to dominate the entire fermentation process. However, he admitted that in some cases, anaerobic fermentation can easily mask the inherent terroir flavors of coffee beans.

Therefore, in recent years, he shifted his attention to how terroir affects the taste of coffee beans, hoping to understand the process and key factors in flavor "shaping" from planting, environment, climate, and even shade trees, so that he could understand the flavor characteristics of each harvest and then more clearly showcase these terroir characteristics after extraction by controlling the fermentation time and ambient temperature of lactic acid bacteria.

Therefore, starting in 2017, Sasa and the owner of Deborah Estate began research cultivation in an extreme altitude area of 1850-2300 meters near a volcano in Chiriqui Province, Panama. Inga trees that produce natural nitrogen were planted around the coffee trees as shade, and the surrounding birds, animals, and trees formed an excellent ecosystem, "simulating" the rich and colorful environment of Ethiopian forests.

Iris Estate and Experimental Processing

Sasa believes that coffee "shaped" in these environments has extremely rich and intense coffee flavors, and with the enhancement of CM, these flavors can be expressed more clearly.

After several years of research and effort, this year Sasa brought the Green Tip Geisha processed using experimental ultra-long carbonic maceration to the Australian Brewers Cup competition. Paired with an extraction method tailor-made for this coffee bean, it showcased the rich and intense candy-like sweetness of this coffee bean.

Experimental Processing Details

According to Sasa, this experimental micro-batch Green Tip Geisha was selected using fully ripe red cherries. After picking, the cherries are placed in stainless steel sealed containers that are resistant to bacterial contamination, and carbon dioxide is immediately injected under pressure to create an anaerobic environment inside the container.

After fermenting at a suitable temperature for a period of time, the temperature in the sealed container is lowered to allow lactic acid bacteria to dominate. Sasa stated that after this batch of coffee beans fermented in a low-temperature environment for 90 hours, the moment the sealed container was opened, the coffee immediately displayed raspberry flavors and candy-like sweetness.

Perfect Coffee Brewing Method

To allow this coffee to better express itself during extraction, Sasa also sought out Professor Jahan to discuss the scientific principles of the brewing process together. First, Sasa discovered that using dry filter paper to start brewing directly would highlight a volatile aroma in this coffee, bringing a pleasant sweetness similar to Turkish delight to the coffee's aftertaste.

To capture more volatile aromas during the brewing process, Sasa also invented a new brewing method - Paragon Coffee Brewing. In the dripper Sasa brought this time, there is a self-invented ice stone in the middle to lock in the aroma of freshly extracted coffee liquid.

Sasa first drew circles in the coffee grounds poured into the dripper to make the distribution of coffee grounds more uniform and extraction more consistent. In the first stage, he used a circular pouring method to wet all the coffee grounds, and then in the second stage, he used a large water flow to pour water into the center quickly.

To bring fine particles upward and settle coarser particles at the bottom, this way the fine particles at the top have shorter contact time with hot water, avoiding extraction of unpleasant bitterness, while the coarse particles at the bottom can also improve extraction rate.

The coffee extracted from these two stages is rapidly frozen through the ice stone, locking in the volatile aromas in the coffee. According to Sasa, the addition of this ice stone can enhance coffee aroma by up to 40%, preserving more distinct rose water, raspberry, and hibiscus tea aromas in the coffee.

Four-Stage Extraction Process

Wait! It's not over yet. After completing the first two stages of water pouring extraction, Sasa moved away the ice stone and continued with a large water flow center pour to improve extraction rate for the third stage of water pouring. The first three stages used 93°C water temperature to highlight the tartaric acid in the coffee.

Then in the fourth stage of water pouring, he changed to a different kettle, lowered the water temperature to 88°C, and used Malaysian hot spring water with a silica concentration of 50ppm. Silica can extract more candy-like sweetness from the coffee.

Looking at this, doesn't it seem very complex! Yes, it's really complex. Daily brewing would struggle to replicate such parameters, and it's not necessarily applicable to other coffee beans.

After the four-stage brewing was completed, the coffee showed hibiscus tea at high temperature, with purple grape and near-rose champagne in the aftertaste; at medium temperature, it showed red apple, with red apple acidity in the aftertaste; at low temperature, it showed red candy transformed from raspberries, also with red apple acidity in the aftertaste, and the finish was chocolate-covered Turkish delight, with diverse acidity.

Competition Results and Philosophy

Before this competition, Sasa stated that an important reason for his motivation to participate this time was the opportunity to showcase his (Sasa's) drive and passion for coffee craftsmanship, hoping to share it with family and friends during this competition.

This time, Sasa once again brought us a wonderful performance and demonstrated his pursuit and passion for perfect coffee. Although using processing methods that can make coffee flavors perform better, it's ultimately a daily processing method. Like other competing coffee beans, daily processing, daily cupping, daily competitions, so competitions will have wins and losses.

This time, Sasa won the runner-up position in the 2022 Australian Brewers Cup! And the champion was also a very talented Korean barista, Harry Ko! Harry Ko will also represent Australia in this year's WBC competition. Regardless of the competition results, every contestant standing on the competition stage deserves our learning, learning from their dedication, focus, and commitment to one thing.

Future Innovations

Regarding the ice stone used by Sasa in this competition, Sasa also mentioned on Instagram today that he will share its mystery with everyone in the coming weeks. After Sasa shares it, Coffee Workshop will provide follow-up sharing for everyone.

Image source: sasasestic Instagram, internet

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