Do anaerobic coffee beans taste good? what is the flavor of Costa Rican coffee treated by anaerobic treatment?

Costa Rica is known for its leading position in innovative coffee processing methods. Especially famous for honey processing, manufacturers and factories all over the country are actively looking for innovative products that can improve the flavor of coffee.

Recently, a new treatment called anaerobic treatment has turned around and made the cup tester say, "what's the secret to the unique taste of this coffee?" This approach is different from the one we usually see, and Luis Eduardo Campos from SanRam ó nde Alajuela works to improve the process at his factory Cordillera de Fuego.

Usually, anaerobic means anoxic. You might ask, how can coffee be used to do this when the fermentor is usually located in an open space? A: put the coffee in a sealed stainless steel container. In addition to producing new and unexpected flavors, the anaerobic process provides a high degree of control over sugar, temperature, pressure, pH and time.

Before you understand how it works, you need to review some facts. First of all, the taste of coffee fruit is concentrated in fruit juice, not in seeds. Coffee cherries are the fruits of shrubs and contain sugar in syrup. The concentration of sugar and seasoning depends on the type of fruit, maturity and soil type.

Now let's continue the process. First, remove the coffee from the pulp, and then put the seeds into the fermentor. The separated mucus is then tightly packed into a gelatinous consistency and added to the fermentor until the entire parchment is covered. With the beginning of fermentation, the ​​ content of O2 decreases, while CO2 increases, resulting in pressure in the fermentor. The process lasts 18 to 23 hours-enough to consume mucus, but not long enough to produce alcohol. After 15 hours, the pH value needs to be continuously controlled to determine the way of fermentation.

The pressure generated by CO2 allows the smell of coffee juice to be injected into the parchment. When the fermentation is over, open the tank (be careful! Because of high pressure). Then dry the coffee for at least 4 hours, otherwise the fermentation may continue and the flavor may change.

We use two different types of coffee from two different regions in our Anaerobico Cordillera del Fuego: Tarraz ú and West Valley (from Zarcero to be exact). Both coffees are grown between 1400 and 1500 MLS; Kaddura and Kaduai. This sounds like very typical Costa Rican coffee, doesn't it? That's where the anaerobic process starts to work. The creamy texture, floral and cinnamon aromas of this coffee will immediately attract your attention. It also has excellent acidity. These complex notes are directly related to the fermentation process.

Costa Rica Cordillera del Fuego anaerobic 2020

Variety: Kaduai, Kaddura

Treatment method: carbon dioxide impregnation treatment

Taste: cinnamon, brown sugar, spices, caramel, red fruit