Origins of Barrel Fermentation Processing, Barrel Treatment Methods, Honduras Sherry, and Lychee Orchid Coffee Introduction

The Origin and Evolution of Barrel-Aged Coffee Processing

Coffee beans are actually the seeds inside coffee fruits, and processing methods are designed to extract these beans. Traditional processing methods include natural, washed, and honey processing, but with the continuous development of the coffee industry, increasingly diverse processing approaches have emerged. Many special processing methods now exist on the market, collectively referred to as special processing methods. These special techniques can create endlessly varied and particularly distinctive flavor profiles in coffee beans, offering rich textures that have gained popularity among many enthusiasts. Currently popular newer processing methods include anaerobic washed/natural, enzyme washed, and barrel aging, among others. But do you know how barrel aging processing originated?

The Origins of Barrel Fermentation

When it comes to barrel fermentation, many people might think of FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry, but actually, the first to use barrel fermentation to process coffee was FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian San José Estate. In addition to owning a coffee estate, the owner of San José Estate was also involved in the production of rum oak barrels and rum distillation. Therefore, one day when his wife Monsalve Botero was helping inject distilled spirits into barrels for fermentation, she had an inspiration—what if coffee beans were placed in oak barrels that had previously held spirits for fermentation? Could this also create wine-like flavors?

Thus, in 2013, she began experimenting with low-temperature fermentation of coffee using Colombian oak barrels of different vintages. It wasn't until 2017 that she successfully created her ideal combination. Later, she also launched refined washed rum barrel-fermented and refined natural rum barrel-fermented coffee beans.

Refined Barrel Fermentation Techniques

The refined washed rum barrel fermentation process begins with hand-selected ripe coffee fruits that undergo washing procedures to remove the skin and pulp, followed by 20 hours of water fermentation to eliminate mucilage. Afterwards, the beans are placed in rum oak barrels aged over 8 years, where they remain for three months with daily rotation to ensure even absorption of the wine aroma. During this period, coffee beans are sampled every 30 days to monitor their fermentation level and ensure complete absorption of the wine aroma. After fermentation is complete, they are taken to a greenhouse for drying. The refined natural process, on the other hand, uses African raised beds for natural drying before being placed in barrels for fermentation, with subsequent steps basically identical. Rum is made by distilling sugarcane and aging it in American oak barrels, so aged barrels also absorb the wine's aroma. When these aged barrels are used for coffee processing, the coffee beans also absorb the wine aroma from the barrels.

Honduran Barrel Fermentation Innovation

Later, the Moca Estate in Honduras also adopted barrel fermentation to process coffee beans, but chose whiskey sherry barrels and brandy barrels for fermentation. However, their difference lies in the fact that Moca Estate ferments the coffee in barrels at low temperatures for 30-40 days (at approximately 15-20°C).

Currently, the barrel-processed beans that FrontStreet Coffee has acquired are two varieties from Moca Estate. One of them is called FrontStreet Coffee's Lychee Orchid, which uses refined washed brandy barrel fermentation. The bean varieties are Caturra and Catuai. When brewed using V60 with a 1:15 ratio, it presents flavors of lychee, brandy, cream, and liqueur chocolate, with a rich texture and honey-like sweetness.

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