After the last week’s coffee from Costa Rica it’s time to enjoy the other one from the Costa Rica box too. Both coffees are from the same farmer, same variety, but are differently processed. The coffee from my post last week was Anaerobically processed.
Anaerobic process was defined with fermenting the beans in closed tanks where oxygen is replaced by carbon dioxide. This time, although similar to some extent, the process is a bit different too.
Thermal process adds some temperature to the tank and fermentation is meant to occur a lot faster. Of course it will add some different and strong flavors to the final product. But actually, is the fermentation good at all or should farmers try to avoid it by all means?
In the past, maybe before 10 or 15 years ago fermentation was considered to be very bad to the coffee production and most commonly the coffee that fermented when being processed was graded with the poorest quality and it was the coffee that sometimes couldn’t be sold, thus consumed mainly in the farmers’ families. Of course, when fermentation occurs naturally and uncontrollably, it really can spoil the cherries, but it also adds different and more pronounced flavors.
Nowadays, when all the process is controlled and constantly monitored, it results in a very unique tasting coffees, and being under high pressure in these huge tanks means that when the sugars break into simple products, they get infused in the coffee bean under this increased pressure. Then the flavors of the Lucille and the cherry don’t get washed entirely in the process, but get capsulated in the coffee itself.
Usually, nowadays some weak fermentation is used to boost the fruity notes and aromas of the coffee, and the taste becomes bolder and more pronounced. Longer fermentation would definitely mean some wild tastes like in these coffees of Costa Rica that I have bought with my last purchase.
Other aspect of the proper fermentation is that the yeast, which is naturally on the coffee cherries is being carefully selected and nitrated in order to be in good health and conduct a fast and good fermentation with distinct flavor profile. The process is very similar to wine fermentation, where is used a selected yeast species in order to give the best flavor to the wine. On the grapes there are also naturally existent yeasts, but if we want to get a good result we would better use a selected type of yeast.
Now back to coffee… in last years there are a growing number of farmers that are experimenting with coffee fermentation and somehow from a drawback, this process is gradually becoming something exquisite and some coffee lover seek this different flavor in their coffee cup.
And about this exact coffee… it promises to give flavors similar to chocolate, mint and lycee. Wow… the other Costa Rican coffee was cinnamon like and this one minty? That was very different sounding.
The first sip gave me a very unique feeling. I get that I have experienced this flavor before. The chocolate, the mint spiciness and this fruitiness. This sip begun very sour. I remembered that I once brewed beer… a sour beer. It was chocolate stout infused and fermented with some raspberries. And that also was a wild fermentation back in the days. And I don’t know how, but this coffee tastes in a very similar manner. I thought that if it was carbonated, the differences would become even less pronounced. Never in my life I was expecting that a coffee can taste like some sour beer, but it is really the case now.
This coffee isn’t meant for everybody’s taste, like the beer that I brewed before like 5-6 years. This sour fermented taste is not suitable for the mass, but it works really well on me. It’s not my everyday coffee, but I would definitely like to enjoy something so different from time to time. One of my workers in the company that I’m currently at tried this coffee and literally his words were “Uh, how are you drinking this stuff?!?” 😁
So, if someone wants to have different experience with coffees, definitely the fermented coffees like Thermally and Anaerobically processed are the thing to try. I bet that most of the fermented coffees aren’t pushed to that limit, like the Costa Rica Thermal coffee, but fermentation is a process that generally boosts the coffee flavor when it is limited to low levels. My wife cannot drink this fermented coffee at all, but I really love the wildness in the cup.
That’s for today. Enjoy yourselves until next week and wish you a happy weekend!
Bye!
Hi Mr @mdosev.
As a coffee addict, I am very excited when I get a quality discussion like your post.
I really understand your discussion about coffee, I have also discussed it several times. If you like, you can see it here.
Costa Rican coffee is known as one of the best coffees in the world. and it has been very famous.
You are lucky to be able to try the wild taste of this coffee because of the fermented variant of the process.
Have a nice day with your coffee.
Thanks for stopping by! Experiencing a wild taste like this is very pleasurable and I’m really happy that in my little country I have the ability to buy some of the best coffee beans from all over the world from a very modern specialty coffee roastery. And I continuously learn new things and upgrade my brewing methods.
Hello @mdosev
I could never imagine drinking a coffee that's like a sour beer either 😝 but I do like the idea of experimenting with the different processes.
I hope your weekend has been going well so far. We can definitely feel a drop in the temperature here, but today brought us some nice sunshine anyway, so I can't complain:)))
If someone told me that a coffee would have a similar taste like a beer, I would definitely laugh at him… but here we are… 😁 This was a really interesting and unexpected reference that I received thanks to my receptors.
The weather…
We had two days with 34 degrees heat. Feels like a real summer. That’s actually good for my chili peppers that are still to ripen! Luckily the evenings are very cool and some mornings we have like 10 degrees. Today it was raining so I think in the next days we will also see a bit cooler days.
Take care!