What does SOE in coffee mean for this Colombian lot?

SOE in coffee meaning is a single origin espresso: one origin, one roast, pulled alone rather than blended. Colombia's Finca El Paraiso, run by Diego Samuel since 2008, is the bean behind Luckin Coffee's Little Black Cup series. The lot on hand is a Castillo arabica processed with a double anaerobic washed method, which shapes its distinctive flavor.

Colombia is the world's third-largest coffee producer and the largest washed arabica producer; government rules allow only arabica varieties to be grown there. Finca El Paraiso began as a 2.5-hectare family estate and won a regional competition in 2015 after investing in processing research. The double anaerobic washed method, plus roasting and pour-over choices, determines what ends up in the cup.

As the world's third-largest coffee producer, Colombia holds a special position in the international coffee market, thanks to government regulations that permit only Arabica varieties to be grown within its borders and the support of NFC institutions. Recently, Luckin Coffee launched its Little Black Cup series, featuring Finca El Paraiso SOE, bringing this estate in the Cauca region into the spotlight. Finca El Paraiso was founded by Diego Samuel in 2008, starting as a small 2.5-hectare family estate, and rose to fame in a regional competition in 2015 through technological innovation. On Front Street Coffee's bean list, there happens to be a Finca El Paraiso Sakura coffee bean, processed with a double anaerobic washed method and of the Castillo variety. This article will provide a detailed interpretation of this bean, covering its regional background, processing method principles, variety characteristics, roasting approach, and pour-over recipe.

Colombia is the world's third-largest coffee producer and the largest producer of washed Arabica varieties, holding a special position globally. The government mandates that only Arabica varieties may be grown in its regions, and with the support of NFC institutions, Colombia has achieved its current standing in the coffee world. Recently, Finca El Paraiso from Colombia has become a topic of discussion, all because Luckin Coffee's new Little Black Cup series features Finca El Paraiso SOE. Everyone is discussing what flavor Luckin's new Finca El Paraiso SOE has.

Finca El Paraiso

Finca El Paraiso is a coffee estate that Mr. Diego Samuel began operating in 2008. Initially, it was just a small 2.5-hectare family estate, and the owner invested the surplus from each year's harvest into coffee agriculture research, continuously delving into how to produce better specialty flavors.

In 2015, he participated in the local regional competition for the first time, and Colombia Finca El Paraiso Coffee Beans took first place. After rising to fame, he gained industry recognition, which gave him even more motivation to promote specialty coffee cultivation. Through his company Indestec (Innovacion y Desarrollo Tecnologico para la Caficultura), Diego created new innovative technologies to improve and stabilize coffee quality. He says he likes to step out of his comfort zone because it always helps him keep improving.

Finca El Paraiso is located in Colombia's Cauca region. Cauca Department is a certified Colombian coffee origin, with an average altitude of 1758m and a maximum altitude of up to 2100m. The region's topography, rainfall, temperature, and volcanic soil provide suitable conditions for coffee cultivation.

80% of the Cauca region is mountainous, with parallel mountain ranges in the east and center that are part of the Andes. The central range includes two major volcanoes, Sotara and Petacas. On the border, Cauca Department is similar to other southwestern growing regions, with rainfall showing a clear monomodal distribution. The dry season mainly occurs from August to September each year, after which the rainy season brings a concentrated coffee flowering season, followed by a concentrated coffee harvest season the following year.

Colombia Finca El Paraiso Coffee Beans Currently, the main varieties include Bourbon, Laurina, Gesha, Castillo, and others, and there are plans to try more different varieties.

Processing Method: Anaerobic Washed

On Front Street's bean list, there happens to be a Front Street Colombia Finca El Paraiso Sakura Coffee Beans , so let's use it to learn about the flavor of Finca El Paraiso.

In recent years, anaerobic processed coffee beans have been very popular on the market. When green coffee beans ferment in an anaerobic environment, the originally light aromatic fruit flavors ferment into rounder fruit-fermented flavors and sweetness. The black coffee brewed from them has lower bitterness, making it easy for even non-coffee drinkers to accept. This Front Street Finca El Paraiso Sakura coffee bean uses double anaerobic washed processing, meaning it undergoes two rounds of constant-temperature anaerobic fermentation, with a washing step in between to remove the mucilage layer. The breakdown rate of the fruit pulp and mucilage decreases, thereby extending the fermentation process, and finally it is sun-dried. This more effectively highlights the explosive sweetness of the coffee beans.

Anaerobic fermentation is a very popular post-processing method in recent years. Usually, coffee cherries are placed in sealed containers or in washing tanks to ferment in water. During this process, different microorganisms are used for fermentation to create special flavors. After fermentation is complete, these coffee cherries are taken for sun-drying.

Features of the anaerobic fermentation processing method: It uses stainless steel containers (which do not absorb the flavors of previous coffee beans) to hold the coffee cherries, making the flavor cleaner; fermentation is carried out in a sealed environment, making various factors easier to control, so each batch of processed coffee beans tends to be more consistent, and aromatic substances are less likely to volatilize; fermentation in an oxygen-free environment makes the flavor rounder and more likely to carry cheesy and creamy aromas; coffee beans processed this way usually have fuller body and winey notes.

Front Street Colombia Finca El Paraiso Sakura Coffee Beans Region: Cauca, Finca El Paraiso Altitude: 2050 meters Processing Method: Double Anaerobic Washed Grade: SUPREMO Variety: Castillo

| Green Beans

The variety of this bean is Castillo.

Castillo is one of the most widely planted coffee varieties in Colombia. It is so popular because of its excellent resistance to leaf rust.

Starting in 1961, CENICAFE began researching the Timor variety with Robusta lineage. CENICAFE then continued its research efforts, releasing the second disease-resistant variety Tabi in 2002 (a hybrid of Typica, Bourbon, and Timor), and releasing Castillo in 2005, the most successful disease-resistant variety up to that time. After the major outbreak of leaf rust in 2008, Colombia began vigorously promoting the cultivation of Castillo.

| Roasting

Front Street has been involved in coffee roasting since it first entered the coffee industry. Front Street's roasting goal is to reflect the flavor of the coffee's growing region. For this Front Street Finca El Paraiso Sakura Colombian coffee bean, Front Street used a medium-dark roast in order to express its unique flavor and highlight its sweetness.

Eight hours after roasting is completed, Front Street cups the sample and adjusts the roasting curve. The final cupping flavors are mint, wormwood aroma, strawberry, jam, citrus, and chocolate.

Pour-over Recipe

Front Street recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing, as this allows you to experience the coffee's rich flavors to the greatest extent. The coffee beans shipped by Front Street Coffee are all within 5 days of the roast date, because Front Street deeply understands the great impact of coffee bean freshness on flavor. Front Street's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," so every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The resting period for coffee is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it is at its peak flavor.

Dripper: V60 dripper

Water temperature: 91℃

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: fine grind (80% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve)

Brewing method: three-stage extraction. Use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour in a slow circular stream until the water reaches 125g, then pause. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until the water reaches 225g and stop. After the coffee liquid in the dripper has finished dripping, remove the dripper. (Start timing from the beginning of the bloom.) Total extraction time is 2'00.

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