What does Finca El Paraiso bring to an SOE latte?

Luckin's Small Black Cup Finca El Paraiso SOE drew attention to this Colombian estate, known since 2019 for the Strawberry and Cherry Blossom lines. Front Street Coffee selects the Cherry Blossom beans, grown in Cauca at 2,050 meters from the Castillo variety using a double anaerobic washed coffee bean processing method, cupping with mugwort, berries, fermented aroma, and strawberry jam.

Finca El Paraiso has been run by Diego Samuel since 2008, starting as a 2.5-hectare family farm; he reinvests harvest profits into cultivation research, and in 2015 won first place in a local regional competition. The article breaks down the estate's background, variety, processing, roast curve, and brewing parameters for its SOE performance.

Luckin's launch of the Small Black Cup Finca El Paraiso SOE has brought this Colombian estate into the public eye. As early as 2019, Finca El Paraiso made a name for itself in the specialty coffee circle with its special processing methods, with the Strawberry and Cherry Blossom series being particularly striking. The Colombian Finca El Paraiso Cherry Blossom coffee beans selected by Front Street Coffee use a double anaerobic washed process, are of the Castillo variety, and in cupping present a complex flavor of mugwort, berries, fermented aroma, and strawberry jam. This article will fully break down this bean's background, variety origins, processing techniques, roasting curve, and brewing parameters, and explore its performance as an SOE.

Luckin's recently launched Small Black Cup Finca El Paraiso SOE has made Finca El Paraiso a hot topic for a time. What exactly is this estate's background, why did Luckin take a fancy to it, and what characteristics do its coffee beans have? Front Street will now sort through them one by one for everyone.

Finca El Paraiso has actually long accumulated a certain reputation in the specialty coffee field. Around 2019, it gained recognition in China's specialty coffee market through several beans with special processing methods. The estate's more sought-after product lines include the Strawberry series and the Cherry Blossom series, and what Front Street has selected this time is precisely Front Street Colombia Cherry Blossom, as a typical representative of Finca El Paraiso.

Front Street Colombia Finca El Paraiso Cherry Blossom Coffee Beans

Country: Colombia Region: Cauca (Finca El Paraiso) Altitude: 2050m Variety: Castillo Processing Method: Double Anaerobic Washed Flavor: Mugwort, berries, fermented aroma, spices, strawberry jam

Finca El Paraiso

Finca El Paraiso is located in Cauca Department, Colombia. According to Front Street's understanding, the estate has been managed by Mr. Diego Samuel since 2008, starting out as merely a 2.5-hectare family-style small farm. The estate owner reinvests the profits from each year's harvest into coffee cultivation research, continuously exploring how to present specialty flavors more consistently.

In 2015, he participated for the first time in a local regional competition and won first place with beans from Finca El Paraiso. This battle made the industry look at him with new eyes and also strengthened his direction of delving deeply into specialty coffee. At present, the varieties grown at Finca El Paraiso include Bourbon, Laurina, Geisha, Castillo, and others, while more new varieties are also being planned for introduction.

Front Street Colombia Finca El Paraiso Cherry Blossom Coffee Bean Variety — Castillo

The Cherry Blossom coffee beans introduced by Front Street Coffee are of the Castillo variety. This variety was promoted for cultivation by Colombia's coffee research institution in 2005 with the goal of improving plant disease resistance. According to Front Street's understanding, Castillo was developed through five generations of crossbreeding and selection from Timor and Caturra, among which Timor is the product of a natural cross between Arabica and Robusta, with a tall plant and resistance to leaf rust.

Caturra, on the other hand, is the result of a natural mutation of the Bourbon variety, with a short plant and higher yield than Typica and Bourbon, perfectly inheriting Bourbon's high-quality flavor, and with compact spacing allowing higher planting density per unit area, but it is susceptible to leaf rust. Castillo combines the characteristics of these two parents, retaining Caturra's excellent flavor while also possessing Timor's leaf rust resistance, and is therefore widely cultivated in Colombia.

Front Street Colombia Finca El Paraiso Cherry Blossom Coffee Bean Processing Method

As Front Street Coffee mentioned earlier, Colombian specialty-processed coffee is quite popular among coffee lovers. This lot of Front Street Colombia Finca El Paraiso Cherry Blossom coffee beans uses an anaerobic natural processing method. This process places the coffee cherries into stainless steel containers (which will not retain the odor of the previous batch of beans), so the flavor is cleaner. Sealed fermentation makes various variables easier to control, results in higher consistency between batches, and makes aromatic substances less likely to dissipate. Fermentation under anaerobic conditions gives a rounder mouthfeel, often accompanied by cheesy or creamy aromas.

The estate owner Diego Samuel himself uses specialty processing methods as the estate's selling point. After anaerobic treatment, this lot of Front Street Colombia Cherry Blossom coffee beans shows a quite unique taste, similar to an aroma interwoven with mugwort, basil, and chamomile, which is hard to encounter in other coffee beans and is worth trying.

Front Street Coffee Roasting Data Sharing

For this lot of Front Street Cherry Blossom coffee beans, Front Street uses a medium-light roast, preserving its characteristics while maximizing the fruit sweetness. The specific parameters are as follows:

Taking Yangjia semi-direct fire 800n and 300g green beans as an example. Charge at a drum temperature of 190°C, heat power 140, damper opened to 3; turning point at 1'42", when the drum temperature is 140°C adjust the damper to 4, heat power remains unchanged; when the drum temperature is 151.8°C the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell dissipates completely, and it enters the dehydration stage; when the drum temperature reaches 150°C reduce heat power to 120, damper unchanged. At 8'38" wrinkles and dark spots appear on the bean surface, the toasted bread smell turns into coffee aroma, which can be regarded as the prelude to first crack; at this time the first crack sound needs to be carefully distinguished; first crack begins at 9'07", damper opened to 4, develop for 2'10 after first crack, drop at 195°C.

Front Street Coffee Brewing Suggestions

Dripper: V60 dripper Water temperature: 90-91°C Dose: 15 grams Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15 Grind size: medium-fine grind (78% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve)

If you want to fully showcase the coffee's flavor, Front Street suggests using freshly roasted beans for brewing, as only then can you experience the rich layers to the greatest extent. The coffee beans sent out by Front Street Coffee are all within 5 days after roasting, because Front Street deeply understands that freshness has a huge impact on flavor. Front Street's roasting principle is "freshly roasted good coffee," so that every customer receives it in the freshest state. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it is exactly at its flavor peak.

In terms of brewing technique, Front Street uses three-stage pouring: first bloom with 30 grams of water for 30 seconds; then pour with a small stream in the center to 125 grams as the first stage, and when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, increase the stream and pour to 225 grams, then stop; after all the coffee liquid has filtered through, remove the dripper. (Start timing at the beginning of blooming.) The extraction time is controlled between 2'00" and 2'10".

Front Street Colombia Finca El Paraiso Cherry Blossom Coffee Bean Flavor Description: pronounced spiced tea, citrus-like acidity, smooth, slight floral aroma, moderate body.

How does Finca El Paraiso Cherry Blossom taste as an SOE?

SOE means using single-origin coffee beans to make espresso. Finca El Paraiso coffee beans have a fresh and unique flavor; when made into Americano, a rich aroma can be felt, and Front Street highly recommends it; but if made into an SOE latte, it is easily covered by the milk flavor.

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.