Does Red Wine Process Coffee Really Contain Alcohol?

No, red wine process coffee is not soaked in red wine. The method borrows wine fermentation to handle the coffee cherries instead. Fermenting beans with the pulp does create a small amount of alcohol, but high-temperature roasting drives it off completely, so no residue is left in the cup. The vinous note is a coffee attribute produced by controlled fermentation, not added wine.

Panama's Hartmann Estate in the Volcan region illustrates the process: Catuai variety, 1250 to 1700 meters, dry cool climate and fertile Baru volcanic soil. The Hartmann family pioneered coffee growing there. Estate background, controlled fermentation details, roasting curve, cupping report and V60 parameters all shape the final flavor, and the same idea can be pulled as an s.o.e coffee.

Front Street was recently asked: Is the red wine process method soaking coffee beans in red wine? Will the final product contain alcohol? In fact, the red wine process method only borrows the idea of wine fermentation to process coffee cherries, not soaking them in red wine. During fermentation with the pulp, a tiny amount of alcohol is indeed produced, but after high-temperature roasting, it has long since evaporated completely, so there is no need to worry about residue. In this article, Front Street uses Panama Hartmann Estate red wine process coffee beans as an example, from the estate background, Catuai variety characteristics, and the operational details of controlled fermentation, to the roasting curve, cupping report, and V60 brewing parameters, to fully break down how this coffee with vinous notes is born.

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Recently, a friend asked Front Street, is the red wine process method soaking coffee beans in red wine? Then does this coffee contain alcohol? No~ Coffee beans with the red wine process method only use the method of making red wine to ferment the coffee beans, rather than soaking the coffee beans in red wine. When coffee beans are fermented together with the pulp, some alcohol will inevitably be produced, but after high-temperature roasting, the alcohol will completely evaporate, so there is no need to worry about alcohol residue in the coffee beans. In this article, Front Street will talk about Front Street Panama Hartmann Estate red wine process coffee beans.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) — Hartmann Estate Red Wine Process Coffee Beans

Region: Volcan, Panama

Estate: Hartmann Estate

Altitude: 1250-1700m

Processing method: Red wine process

Variety: Catuai

Hartmann Estate

Finca Hartmann

Coffee from Panama's Volcan region has gradually emerged in the specialty market in recent years. The dry and cool climate of the Volcan region, the fertile volcanic soil of Baru, and an altitude of over 1700m provide an excellent growing environment for plants. In the early days, most of the Volcan area was planted with economic crops such as fruits and vegetables, and only relatively few farmers grew coffee. Among them, the pioneer of coffee cultivation in the Volcan area was the Hartmann family, who are quite well known in Panama.

Hartmann Estate is continuously operated by the third generation of the family. Mr. Ratibor Hartmann and his four siblings each take on different roles on the estate. They live together on the estate and make a living by growing coffee. From the published book themed around bird-friendly, shade-grown cultivation at Hartmann Estate and the toucan logo of Hartmann Estate, it can be seen that Hartmann Estate is committed to environmental protection. Its coffee cultivation also follows green environmental principles, and the fertilizer used is made from the fermented peel and pulp of coffee cherries.

The Hartmann family also manages and processes coffee for many estates in Panama. For example, Finca La Mula, a frequent winner at Best of Panama, and 90+'s estate in Panama are both under the management of the Hartmann family. Although the estate is very low-key and is rarely seen at Best Of Panama, their coffee is among the finest in Panama. Panama coffee's fame today owes much to the Hartmann family.

Catuai Variety

Catuai

It is an artificially bred hybrid variety developed by the Instituto Agronomico de Campinas (IAC) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, using Mundo Novo and Yellow Caturra, and was initially called "H-2077". Catuai inherits Mundo Novo's high yield, strong disease resistance, and good cup quality attributes, and also inherits Caturra's small size, fine acidity, and sun-dried coffee attributes.

Red Wine Process

Coffee fermented through a method similar to the red wine process greatly enhances the sweetness, cleanliness, and multi-layered complex yet elegant acidity in the coffee. This fermentation method greatly improves the quality and uniqueness of the coffee produced. The red wine process is also called the controlled fermentation method, or the lactic/acetic fermentation method.

After collecting the fruit, the estate carefully selects ripe red coffee cherries to ensure that among the coffee fruits selected for processing, the proportion of unripe fruit is less than 2%, the proportion of defective beans is less than 3%, and the proportion of floating beans is less than 5%. The selected coffee cherries are placed in a specific container, which should have a device similar to a red wine fermentation lock, or a one-way exhaust valve.

In this way, carbon dioxide can escape through this device to control the air concentration in the container. At this time, the coffee cherries in the container undergo acetic fermentation. The beans from this reaction have a relatively bright, clean flavor with citric acidity. Front Street believes that coffee beans undergoing the red wine process will have a fermented vinous aroma similar to red wine, a mellow mouthfeel, and clean acidity.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Roasting Notes

Front Street's roaster uses a Yangjia 800N semi-direct fire, with a 600g charge. The drum temperature is 200°C when the beans are put in, the airflow is set to 3, after 30s the heat is adjusted to 170°C, the airflow remains unchanged, the turning point is 1'39'', the heat is maintained, at 4'57'' the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and it enters the dehydration stage, the heat is lowered to 130°C, and the airflow is maintained at 3.5;

At 8'00'' dehydration is complete, the heat is lowered to 80°C. At 8'00'' the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and dark streaks, and the toast smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, you need to listen clearly to the sound of the first crack point. At 8'43'' first crack begins, lower the heat to 60°C, open the airflow fully to 5 (adjusting the heat must be very careful, not so low that there is no cracking sound), develop for 1'43'' after first crack, and drop the beans at 195.5°C.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Cupping Report

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will conduct cupping within 8-24 hours after the sample coffee beans are roasted. The cupping bowl generally used by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) baristas is a 200ml ceramic bowl. The water temperature used for cupping is 94°C, and the grind size is controlled so that the passing rate through a No. 20 standard sieve (0.85 mm) is 70%-75%. Ratio: 11.1 grams of coffee powder plus 200 ml of hot water, that is, 1:18.18, so that the extracted concentration is exactly within the golden cup range of 1.15%-1.35%, and the steeping time is 4 minutes.

Front Street Panama Hartmann Estate Red Wine Process Coffee Beans Cupping Results

Dry aroma: orange, jasmine

Wet aroma: red wine, honey

Flavor: tropical fruit, nuts, red wine, honey, cane sugar

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Brewing Notes

Dripper: V60#01

Water temperature: 90°C

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: medium-coarse grind / EK43s setting 10 (80% passing rate through China standard No. 20 sieve)

Front Street uses segmented extraction: for the first stage, pour 30 grams of water to bloom for 30 seconds; for the second stage, pour 95 grams of water (the electronic scale shows 125 grams); pouring is completed at about 1 minute 05 seconds; for the third stage, pour 100 grams of water (the electronic scale shows 225 grams), and pouring is completed at about 1 minute 40 seconds; extraction time is 2 minutes 05 seconds, then remove the dripper to complete brewing.

[Front Street Panama Hartmann Estate Red Wine Process]

Brewing flavor: smooth on entry, lively and bright acidity, soft acidity, rich layers, obvious red wine finish, honey, and cane sugar notes, and after fully cooling, a yellow sugar flavor.

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