How Does the Lychee Orchid Coffee Process Work?
Honduras Moka Estate Lychee Orchid coffee is processed by refined washing followed by brandy barrel fermentation, which builds flavors of cream, dark chocolate, honey, lychee and brandy. Grown at 1500 to 1700 meters in Marcala from Caturra and Catuai, it has a full body, prominent sweetness and a clear alcoholic note as the cup cools.
Honduras produces about three million bags of coffee a year and ranks among the ten largest exporting countries, with six main regions: Copan, El Paraiso, Comayagua, Opalaca, Montecillos and Agalta, at 1000 to 1600 meters. Farmers prune coffee trees to about 150 cm so picking stays easy, since taller trees require ladders and can damage branch vigor.
Honduras Moka Estate's Lychee Orchid coffee, through a low-temperature brandy barrel fermentation process, presents a unique flavor interweaving cream, dark chocolate, honey, and lychee. How exactly is this bean recommended by Front Street Coffee made? This article will start with the rise of Honduras's coffee industry, sort out the main producing regions, cultivated varieties, and manual picking system, and deeply analyze the specific process of refined washing combined with oak barrel fermentation, taking you through the tasting experience in which the alcoholic flavor gradually emerges as the temperature changes, as well as the performance of the two major varieties, Caturra and Catuai, in the cup.
Front Street Coffee Honduras Moka Estate Lychee Orchid
Country: Honduras
Origin: Marcala
Estate: Moka Estate
Altitude: 1500-1700m
Variety: Caturra, Catuai
Processing method: Refined washing + brandy barrel fermentation
The flavor carries notes of cream, dark chocolate, honey, lychee, and brandy, with a rich and full mouthfeel on entry, prominent sweetness, and as the temperature drops, the alcoholic sensation becomes clearer when sipped.
Over the past two decades, Honduras has continued to invest in coffee processing techniques and logistics and transportation, with the industry level improving markedly, and its position in the global coffee market rising accordingly. Local coffee is mostly grown in mountainous areas, harvesting is done entirely by hand, and after picking it undergoes meticulous processing, all for the purpose of obtaining green beans of more stable quality. Honduras produces about three million bags of coffee each year, an impressive quantity and of no poor quality, and it has now ranked among the world's top ten coffee exporting countries. The country mainly has six coffee-producing regions, namely Copan, El Paraiso, Comayagua, Opalaca, Montecillos, and Agalta, with an average growing altitude of 1000-1600m. The main cultivated varieties include Bourbon, Caturra, Typica, Catuai, and Pacas.
This Honduran coffee bean from Front Street has relatively large beans, uniform in size, consistent in color, and glossy. To make harvesting easier, farmers prune the coffee trees to no more than 150 cm, because if the trees are too tall, ladders must be used, which is not only time-consuming but may also damage the tree's vigor by bending the branches. Coffee cherries do not ripen uniformly, so maintaining good quality depends on manual picking, then selecting the ripe red cherries from among them; the cherries on the same branch often need to be picked several times over several weeks before harvesting is complete. Caturra has prominent acidity and aroma in light roasting, is overall bright, and if processed properly can also show decent sweetness, though its body is lower than that of Bourbon, and its cleanliness in the mouth is also slightly lacking. Caturra usually bears red berries, but yellow Caturra also exists in a very few regions, for example, a small amount is cultivated in Hawaii.
For this Front Street Lychee Orchid, refined washed and fermented in brandy barrels, the freshly picked coffee cherries are first given a refined washing, then placed into brandy oak barrels and fermented for 30-40 days in a low-temperature environment of 15-20°C, allowing the green beans to fully absorb the aroma brought by the barrels, and finally they are sun-dried.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
