Rum barrel fermentation treatment of Coffee Bean in San Jose Manor in Caldas, Colombia

One of the best places in the world to grow coffee: San Jose Manor, Caldas, Colombia

Let's start with Finca San Jose Estate in Colombia, a manor in the province of Caldas, which is 1750 meters above sea level and about 1400 meters high from the flat ground. The annual temperature is between 21 and 25 degrees Celsius. The mountain soil over there contains volcanic ash and is rich in minerals, which is very suitable for growing boutique coffee trees!

San Jose Manor not only has the coffee beans fermented in this rum barrel, they also grow a rare pink bourbon, which is a mixture of yellow bourbon and red bourbon, and the flavor is also very good, but the quantity is not large. in addition, there are well-known boutique coffee varieties such as Kaddura, Castillo and so on.

The manor harvested the ripe coffee cherries, dried them in an African scaffolding and greenhouse, and improved them through promotion in the process.

Coffee beans + old wine barrel = new taste popping up

San Jose Manor has been striving for innovation and change in the boutique coffee industry, trying to take a different path, and on one occasion in 2013, he accompanied a gentleman who was engaged in the manufacture of rum to barrel and ripen the original wine. so there was a flash of inspiration-what if you put raw coffee beans in oak barrels? Will it be like the original wine, absorbing the flavor of oak barrels and showing a better effect?

With these questions, the owner of the San Jose estate began to experiment with putting raw coffee beans into rum buckets of different ages for wine-making low-temperature fermentation, and the fermentation time was different, in order to test the best results!

After years of experiments and attempts, we finally found a fermentation method that can produce excellent taste and aroma in 2017, which is different from the traditional rum barrel fermentation.

In 2019, the manor owner continued to improve the aftertaste treatment process, such as African-style scaffolding and greenhouse drying process, making the overall flavor more dry and distinct.

Rum barrel treatment-introduction to the treatment method

The owner of the San Jose estate chooses the coffee beans of the Castillo variety (Castillo), selects the well-ripe coffee cherries by hand, and after washing with water, let them ferment for 20 hours, then put them into rum oak barrels for more than 8 years, place the beans in a barrel for three months and roll once a day to evenly absorb the aroma of the wine.

During this period, the coffee beans in the bucket will be sampled every 30 days to ensure the degree of fermentation and whether the wine is fully absorbed, so that when the coffee beans are finally finished, the characteristics will be more distinct and complete.

So how good is this rum bucket of coffee?

This fine coffee bean from San Jose Manor-rum barrel fermented and washed, once participated as a formula bean in the cappuccino category of RASV Australia International Coffee Baking Competition in 2019 and won the Silver Award! This competition is attended by more than 800 groups of samples from all over the world.

So, whether you want to make boutique coffee by hand, or mix it with bean curd to make lattes, cappuccinos, or even ice drops or cold coffee. Continue this basic wine chocolate and spirits fermentation tone, the front section is a strong raisin and cherry flavor, the entrance can obviously feel like a number of brandy wine, and after the entrance into a strong chocolate wine sugar, a long sweet finish. The flavor is different, so it's worth exploring.

Manor San Jose, Colombia

■ country Colombia (Colombia)

■ producing area Caldas producing area (Caldas)

■ is 1750 meters above sea level

■ variety Castillo (Castillo)

Refined washing with ■ treatment & rum barrel fermentation (Washed & RUM)