How Should Raisin Honey Coffee Be Brewed?

Raisin honey processing keeps all the mucilage and adds no water, so the coffee carries a fermented fruit sweetness and a syrupy body. Costa Rica's Musician Series Bach is the usual example. Because the mucilage is fully retained, fines and coffee particles behave differently in the brew bed, so grind size and pour control matter more than they do with a washed coffee.

The cherries are floated to remove underripe and overripe fruit, then dried on raised beds for at least three days before the skin comes off. Finished raisins hold 15 to 25 percent moisture with fructose near 60 percent, which is where the sweetness comes from. A V60, a cake filter and a flat-bottom dripper each separate the layers differently.

The Bach coffee beans from Costa Rica's Musician Series showcase a rich fermented aroma and abundant sweetness through their unique raisin honey processing method, making them a favorite among many coffee enthusiasts. This article will start from the principles of raisin honey processing, thoroughly break down the flavor characteristics of Front Street Bach, and conduct brewing comparisons using V60, cake filter, and ice pupil filter to record the effects of different drippers on flavor layering, balance, and mouthfeel, helping readers find the most suitable brewing method and fully appreciate the charm of these beans.

Front Street Have you ever tasted Front Street Bach? It comes from Costa Rica's Musician Series and is named after the famous musician Bach. Costa Rica's honey processing is highly acclaimed, but you might be less familiar with raisin honey processing. So what flavor characteristics does the raisin honey processing used for Bach impart? Read on to find out.

| Raisin Honey Processing Method

This processing method requires retaining all the mucilage without adding any extra water throughout, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of implementing honey processing and demands stricter time control. On the day the coffee cherries are harvested, the fruits need to be poured into a large water tank; fully developed ripe fruits will sink to the bottom, while unripe or overripe fruits float on the surface, and these floating beans must be screened out. After selection, the coffee fruits are first placed on raised drying beds for at least three days, then the cherry skin is removed, and the mucilage layer is retained for further drying. During this stage, climatic conditions directly determine the success or failure of the honey processing.

During drying, the coffee cherries must be continuously turned to ensure uniform moisture loss, while the turning rhythm must be precisely controlled—the drying process needs to be slow enough to promote fermentation, but not so slow as to cause over-fermentation.

The fruits used to make raisins must be fully ripe; the finished raisins have a moisture content of only 15% to 25%, yet fructose can account for up to 60%, resulting in extremely high sweetness. Because of this, raisins can be stored for a long time; after prolonged storage, the internal fructose may crystallize, but this does not affect consumption. Raisins can be eaten directly as a snack or added to pastries, and in some regional cuisines, raisins are also used as a seasoning.

Raisins made by sun-drying tend to become sour, while the highest quality ones are mostly shade-dried. The seedless raisins produced in Turpan, Xinjiang, China, are the most famous; the local climate is dry and hot, and the shade-drying houses are built of brick with ventilation holes all over the four walls, wooden stick supports set up inside, and mature seedless grapes hung on them, quickly dried by hot air to obtain high-quality raisins.

What exactly is the process for raisin honey processing of coffee fruits?

Based on current understanding, the processing flow is [double fermentation honey processing]: first sun-dry the coffee fruits to a raisin-like state, then remove the skin and carry out honey processing fermentation. This operation results in a more intense fermented flavor, and the retained mucilage amount is also higher than other honey processing methods; it is号称100% mucilage honey processing, and indeed carries a distinct raisin flavor. This is a processing method with quite high sweetness, combining a white wine-like mouthfeel with balanced acidity, prominent fermented aroma, and better mucilage retention than general honey processing; the style resembles "noble rot" sweet wine, with perceptible flavors of honey, dried apricot, raisin, peach, and so on.

| Brewing

Since this [Front Street Costa Rica Bach] is a flavor-oriented bean, the drippers chosen today are all more suitable for showcasing flavor-type coffee: the V60 dripper, the cake dripper, and the ice pupil dripper. The three are kept consistent in parameters and technique, using a small stream of water and fast pouring to enhance agitation, thereby bringing out the aroma of Front Street Bach, while three-stage brewing helps increase the extraction rate.

Parameters: water temperature 91°C, grind size BG 5R (58% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve), powder-to-water ratio 1:15

Front Street Costa Rica Canet Musician Series Bach

Country: Costa Rica

Region: Tarrazú

Altitude: 1,950M

Processing method: raisin honey processing

Grade: SHB

Variety: Caturra

[V60 Dripper]

The core of the V60 dripper's design lies in controlling the rate at which the water level drops, enabling the coffee grounds to achieve a relatively ideal extraction flow rate. The internal ribs use a curved spiral structure, which can accelerate the water flow, extending from the bottom all the way to the top, keeping the degassing process smooth throughout.

The curved ribs lengthen the water flow path, thereby increasing the contact time between coffee particles and water. Because its flow rate is on the fast side, it can easily cause uneven extraction, but from another perspective, this also makes the coffee's flavor layers richer.

Technique: 30g water for 30 seconds bloom, pour to 120g for a stage, when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 228g and stop, and when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. Timing from the start of the bloom, the total extraction time is one minute fifty-six seconds.

Flavor: at high temperature, the entry is relatively balanced, with an obvious fermented wine aroma, prominent sweetness of rice wine and raisins, and a slight tea sensation in the finish; after the temperature drops slightly, the entry has berry acidity and a genmaicha aftertaste, with an obvious juicy feel; after completely cooling, it presents orange-like sweet and sour notes, accompanied by a faint sugarcane sweet aftertaste.

[Cake Dripper]

The cake dripper has a flat-bottom design with three drip holes, allowing the coffee grounds to remain in a soaking state for a longer time during extraction, making the extraction more even. The cup body and the wavy filter paper do not fit too tightly together, helping maintain consistent temperature and more dispersed water flow. Coffee brewed with the cake dripper has both a rich mouthfeel and a certain sense of layering, performing somewhere between the V60 and the trapezoidal dripper.

Technique: 37g water for 30 seconds bloom, pour to 120g for a stage, when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 228g and stop, and when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. Timing from the start of the bloom, the total extraction time is two minutes three seconds. (Because the cake dripper is flat-bottomed, I chose to use more water for the bloom.)

Flavor: the aroma has an obvious fermented wine note; the entry has citrus acidity and a prominent juicy feel; the middle shows nutty and almond notes; the aftertaste is genmaicha and rice wine; the sugarcane sweet aftertaste is clear, and the body is relatively high.

[Ice Pupil Dripper]

The ice pupil dripper's ribs are arranged in a stepped vertical pattern, allowing the filter paper to form an elevated state at the bottom of the dripper, while at the very top the dripper and filter paper are completely sealed.

The advantage of this design is that the top of the dripper and the filter paper are completely sealed; during brewing, if the water flow is momentarily too large and the water temperature too high, flooding the flow guide grooves, the lack of degassing space will slow the rate at which the water level drops, thereby creating a soaking effect like the KONO dripper and avoiding under-extraction. Coffee brewed with the ice pupil dripper has a decent mouthfeel, with a flavor leaning toward balance.

Technique: 28g water for 30 seconds bloom, pour to 123g for a stage, when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 228g and stop, and when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. Timing from the start of the bloom, the total extraction time is two minutes.

Flavor: obvious fermented wine aroma; the entry has a rice wine sensation with a slight plum acidity; the flavor leans toward cocoa, almond, and nuts; the caramel sweetness is prominent, and the overall is relatively balanced.

| Summary

The three drippers each have different emphases. [Front Street Bach] brewed with the V60 dripper shows richer and more varied flavor layering; the coffee brewed with the cake dripper and the ice pupil dripper is generally more balanced overall, but [Front Street Bach] brewed with the cake dripper still retains good fruit acidity and also performs well in body; while [Front Street Bach] brewed with the ice pupil dripper has an obvious fermented wine aroma and more prominent sweetness.

Therefore, the performance of the three drippers when brewing [Front Street Bach] is as follows:

Flavor: V60 dripper > cake dripper > ice pupil dripper

Balance: ice pupil dripper > cake dripper > V60 dripper

Mouthfeel: cake dripper > ice pupil dripper > V60 dripper

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