What is Chili Rose Summer Coffee? Is Aji bourbon or Geisha? Do the dividing line manor chili beans have the flavor of chili?

At the beginning of this month, the 2024 WBC World baristas Competition ended successfully, and the champion was won by contestant Mikael Jasin from Indonesia in Asia. His coffee beans of his choice in the final court caught fire, and a variety called "Pepper Aji" instantly attracted the attention of many coffee lovers.

In order to find out whether the famous Aji chili peppers have a "chili flavor" in the end, Qianjie also took the opportunity to get a little taste, also selected from the dividing line manor in Colombia, using washing treatment. Next, let's first dig into what kind of chili is, and then find out whether it is hot or not.

Why is it called "chili"?

Aji pepper, also known as Aji Bourbon, "Aj í" means "red pepper" in Spanish and gets its name from its unique spicy taste.

Looking through the materials in front of the street, we learned that Aji Pepper first appeared on the award-winning bean list of the Columbia Excellence Cup (COE) in 2021 and won the sixth place in the washing group with a high score of 89.32. The grower was the Lasso family from La Guaca in Huilan Province, and the manor manager was named Jose Herman Salazar.

Around the end of the last century, Jose bought the seeds of the chili coffee from another estate in the town of Pitalito in Huilan province. During a harvest, he stumbled upon the ripe fruit of these trees with a strong red pepper flavor, so the farmer decided to take the seed and plant it separately. Since the coffee grown in the garden was dominated by pink bourbon, Jose subconsciously thought it was a variety of other bourbon, so he named it Aj í Bourbon.

Does pepper bourbon belong to bourbon variety?

In the 21-year COE competition, the judges found that the coffee offered by Jose was a hitherto unknown variety. Genetic testing and analysis was then carried out and checked with thousands of samples from the local institution specializing in coffee DNA testing (CATIE) to verify that the variety had not yet been registered in any place of origin in the world, but it could be determined that it was not bourbon and that it might have originated from the Ethiopian native species in Africa (Landrace). In the end, the COE official website also deleted the word "bourbon", leaving only the word "Aji" of chili.

Until March 2022, the chromosome analysis of chili coffee was finally released, but to everyone's surprise, it turned out to be a hybrid of Congo Congo Gesha and Ethiopian Rosa.

Han Huaizong mentioned in the fourth Wave of Fine Coffee: "the chromosome sequence number of Aji is very unique, and there are many chromosomes similar to the Congo rose summer of CATIE in the current database, but the differences between Aji and Congo rose summer chromosomes can be found in Ethiopia. So it is quite possible that Aji is a hybrid of Congo Rosa and Ethiopia Rosa. "

Because two Rosa genes were included in the identification results, it was given a new name: "Pepper Rose Summer". But as with pink Pink Bourbon, although the genetic sequence of the variety clearly indicates that it is not bourbon, the name "Aj í Bourbon" has already spread between growers and consumers, so until now the variety is still labeled as "chili bourbon" for sale.

So is this "chili coffee" hot or not?

For this chili coffee, the farmers who first came into contact with the coffee were described as this: when the coffee beans are crushed, it is like cutting red chili peppers, and the nose and eyes itch. When tasting the coffee, the bean tastes like chili powder, red pepper and pepper. (when you squeeze a grain, you have the sensation of the itching that the chili gives in the eye and nose and in the cup it gives note of paprika, chili and pepper. )

Qianjieguang is looking at these descriptions, as if the body has already felt the spiciness, what if it is not suitable for the Guangdong baby's physique?

After getting this Aji chili coffee, considering its rich acidity, Qianjie chose a medium-shallow baking curve to retain more of its light aroma without losing the nutty aroma of caramelization.

Front Street Coffee: Colombian dividing Line Pepper Bourbon Coffee Bean producing area: Colombian Whelan Province Manor: dividing Line Manor elevation: 1750mm 1900m Variety: chili bourbon (Bourbon Aji) treatment: washed flavor: pepper, mint, white chamomile, peach, lime, honey

Aji pepper cup test aroma: not yet ground, the front street from the bean table to smell a trace of green pepper, when ground into powder, pepper, clove flavor straight into the nasal cavity, followed by white chamomile, lavender aroma, the overall tone is fresh and unique. With the injection of hot water, the coffee begins to give off a hint of lime, almonds and herbs.

Taste: the coffee has the flavor of mint, citronella and lemon, with bright acidity and smooth taste; with a slight drop in temperature, the peach-like juice is prominent, making people feel as sweet as maple syrup after swallowing; as the coffee cools, the flavor experience returns to the home of spices, dominated by pepper, cinnamon and a slight fennel tail. Although there is no feeling of what the landowners call "spicy", the flavor experience of Aji chili is really wonderful and impressive.

Finally, as for the flavor experience of Aji chili coffee, since there is no plan to put it on the shelves alone in Qianjie, this time we only put a small amount of it in the store for everyone to taste. After drinking, the little friends who want to drink have to report it quickly.

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