Colombian SOE Espresso Extraction Parameters: How to Extract Delicious Espresso Coffee

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Most of the beans on FrontStreet Coffee's menu are primarily pour-over coffee beans. There are currently four options for espresso coffee, all in blend form. The store uses one of them called Warm Sun Blend, which is composed of 60% Honduras sherry barrel-processed coffee beans and 40% natural-processed Red Cherry Project Yirgacheffe coffee beans. There is not yet a SOE (Single Origin Espresso) coffee bean.

In daily operations, many customers have asked if there are any recommended SOE coffee beans, so FrontStreet Coffee has given this considerable thought. Based on the characteristics of SOE, we hope to use coffee beans with distinct regional characteristics or processing methods for SOE production, such as washed-processed Yirgacheffe, natural-processed Sidamo, etc. Today, we will be reviewing a double anaerobic washed Castillo coffee bean from Colombia's Finca El Paraiso, commonly known in the industry as "Strberry Yogurt," to see how this coffee performs as SOE and in milk-based drinks.

The reason for choosing this particular coffee bean for SOE Single Origin Espresso is its unique flavor performance during cupping: strawberry-berry notes, cheese flavors mixed with black cocoa aftertaste. The entire coffee's performance is exceptionally unique and truly memorable.

Coffee Bean Information

Finca El Paraiso is a coffee farm that Mr. Diego Samuel began operating in 2008. Initially, it was a small family-owned estate of only 2.5 hectares. The farm owner invests the surplus from each harvest into coffee agricultural research and continuously studies how to better produce specialty flavors.

In 2015, he participated in his first local regional competition, where coffee beans from Colombia's Finca El Paraiso won first place. After becoming famous overnight, he gained recognition from the industry and became more motivated to promote the cultivation of specialty coffee.

Currently, Colombia's Finca El Paraiso primarily grows varieties such as Bourbon, Laurina, Gesha, and Castillo, and is planning to experiment with more different varieties. "Strberry Yogurt" is made from the Castillo variety, which is most widely grown in Colombia. Castillo has very strong rust resistance because it is the result of backcrossing Colombian varieties with Caturra.

Although according to blind tasting results from Colombia's National Coffee Research Center, Castillo's flavor performance can reach the quality level of varieties like Caturra and Bourbon, FrontStreet Coffee still hopes that everyone will make objective judgments based primarily on actual cupping results.

In addition to the variety, the processing method is also the source of the unique flavor of Strberry Yogurt coffee, which belongs to a novel double anaerobic washed processing. As the name suggests, this processing method undergoes two anaerobic treatment steps. After the coffee cherries are harvested, they are placed in a sealed environment for the first anaerobic fermentation treatment. After fermentation is complete, they are taken out and the pulp and fruit skin are removed (as in the washed processing method), then placed back in a sealed environment for the second anaerobic fermentation step. The total of two anaerobic environment fermentations is the unique aspect of this processing method. Finally, they are sun-dried to reduce the moisture content to around 11%.

Espresso

For the espresso parameters, after multiple adjustments, we finally chose 20 grams of coffee grounds to extract 40 grams of coffee liquid, with a time of about 27 seconds, with the first drop of coffee liquid appearing at the 5-second mark.

The resulting espresso from Colombia's Finca El Paraiso Strberry Yogurt coffee beans has medium acidity, low bitterness, but also slightly lower sweetness, evoking flavors of citrus and strawberry, medium-intensity cheese, and a dark chocolate aftertaste.

Americano

For the Americano, we chose a 10-ounce cup capacity, with a coffee liquid to water ratio of about 1:6. The taste is similar to fruit hard candy, dark chocolate, and slight strawberry. The mouthfeel is smooth with medium body.

Milk Coffee

For the milk coffee, we used a 12-ounce cup to make latte and a 10-ounce cup to make flat white. The latte has a smooth texture with milk sweetness, and the flavors lean more toward lemon yogurt, vanilla ice cream, and a slight dark chocolate aftertaste.

The flat white, on the other hand, has overall stronger intensity, with more prominent and clear cheese as well as lemon yogurt, medium dark chocolate aroma, and medium to high sweetness.

The flavor direction of this Colombia Strberry Yogurt bean is very strong and can be said to be an extremely unique coffee bean, but it also has the pain points of most SOE Single Origin Espresso coffees. The first is how to balance stability and flavor performance.

In terms of roasting, FrontStreet Coffee deepened the roast level of this Strberry Yogurt for espresso production. If it were to be used for espresso with the light to medium roast of pour-over coffee, it would inevitably increase acidity and make the coffee taste sharp and unbalanced. In roasting, it cannot be too deep as to eliminate the inherent flavors, nor too light as to make the espresso unbalanced.

Secondly, this roast level makes the "coffee flavor" weaker. In the traditional impression, espresso beans are roasted to a deeper degree, approximately after the second crack. The purpose of deep roasting is firstly for stability—the flavors produced by roasting dominate the main tone, with the taste remaining consistent for decades; secondly, to cover defects. At this roast level, adding a large amount of milk makes it easier to drink, whereas today's slightly lighter roasted SOE that highlights origin flavors is the opposite of this situation. Therefore, in the previous text, the flavor intensity of the 12-ounce latte is not as strong as the smaller portion flat white.

Although this Colombia Finca El Paraiso Strberry Yogurt has a unique and impressive flavor, FrontStreet Coffee has not listed it as a pour-over coffee bean and does not particularly recommend it for espresso production. FrontStreet Coffee believes this coffee bean does not possess the factors that represent Colombian coffee. This coffee bean can only be considered an individual case. FrontStreet Coffee would prefer a washed-processed coffee bean whose main tone can represent the Colombian coffee growing region. The reason for not recommending SOE production also stems from various factors—in simple terms, it's difficult to produce and unstable.

The reason for choosing Colombia Strberry Yogurt for SOE is its unique flavor performance, combined with the roast degree factor that results in a short tasting period but long degassing period, meaning by the time it's properly rested, there may only be a few days left to drink. It's acceptable as an occasional experimental bean, but for long-term production, it might be time-consuming, laborious, and not worth the effort.

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

Important Notice :

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