What makes Colombia Rose Valley coffee different?

Rose Valley comes from Big Tree Estate in Colombia's Santander region and is built on the Caturra variety processed with a double anaerobic enzyme washed method. Colombia is the world's second-largest coffee producer, and most anaerobic specialty beans on the market trace back to its farms. The article walks through the roast curve, cupping notes and both hot and iced pour-over recipes.

Colombia's coffee cultivation grew out of a difficult past, when the country was known for the drug trade before coffee became a core economic crop through long-term national investment. That history now supports both washed exports and experimental processing. For iced pour-over, the piece gives grind size, water temperature, dose and staged pouring parameters that can be copied directly at home.

Colombia, as the world's second-largest coffee-producing country, is not only famous for its washed beans but is also a core representative of special anaerobic fermentation processing methods. This article focuses on Rose Valley coffee produced by Big Tree Estate in Colombia's Santander region. It first reviews Colombia's coffee cultivation history and regional landscape, then takes a deep dive into the characteristics of the Caturra variety and the double anaerobic enzyme washed process, and includes a complete roasting curve, cupping information, and parameters for hot brewing and iced pour-over. Whether you want to understand the processing logic behind anaerobically fermented beans or are looking for an iced pour-over recipe you can directly replicate, you'll find the answers in this article. For more specialty coffee content, follow Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee).

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Colombia firmly holds the position of the world's second-largest coffee producer, but its development trajectory can be described as full of ups and downs. Before the rise of its coffee industry, this country was notorious for the drug trade, and only after years of conflict did it gradually cultivate coffee into a core economic crop. Being able to reach the point today where it is recognized by coffee lovers around the world is the result of long-term investment and persistence across the entire country. It is worth mentioning that Colombia is both an important stronghold for special processing methods—especially anaerobic fermentation; the vast majority of anaerobic specialty beans seen on the market come from here—and one of the main exporters of washed coffee. Today we are going to talk about exactly that: one of Colombia's highly popular anaerobic fermented beans in recent years—Rose Valley. Before getting into the main topic, let's first review this country's coffee background.

Colombia Background

When the name "Colombia" is mentioned, it is easy to associate it with the navigator who led a fleet to the American continent—Columbus—and the country's name indeed comes from him. The country is located in South America and borders Brazil, the world's number one coffee producer. Geographically, it is roughly divided into two parts: the Andes mountain region in the west and the Llanos plains in the east. The plains account for about two-thirds of the country's land area, while coffee cultivation is mainly concentrated in the Andes mountain range in the west.

Colombia's coffee cultivation history can be traced back to the Spanish colonial period in the sixteenth century. In addition to coffee, this place is also rich in gold, emeralds, and flowers; together the four are known as Colombia's "Four Treasures."

Producing Regions

The country's coffee-producing regions can be grouped into two categories: specialty coffee regions and commercial coffee regions. Among commercial regions, the most representative are the three major [MAM] sectors, concentrated in the central and northern parts, including Medellin, Armenia, and Manizales, as well as Santander in the northeast, which produces [Rose Valley]. Although Rose Valley comes from a commercial region, it is a specialty representative within it. Santander as a whole is dominated by commercial beans, but Big Tree Estate is one of the few specialty estates locally. This region is located in the northeast of the country and can be further divided into two areas: the western part is the Magdalena River basin, mainly plains, with an average annual temperature of about 29°; the eastern part is the Cordillera mountain area.

Colombia's main coffee-producing regions include: Boyaca, Caldas, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Huila, Magdalena, Meta, Narino, Santander, Quindio, Risaralda, Santander, Tolima, Valle del Cauca

Estate

Big Tree Estate—the name is straightforward and easy to understand. Owner Vargas has more than twenty years of coffee-growing experience and is a truly seasoned expert.

Variety

Caturra is a natural genetic mutation of the Bourbon variety, first discovered in 1937 in the town of Caturra, Brazil. Compared with Bourbon, Caturra has stronger fruit yield and disease resistance, while also retaining Bourbon's advantages of a short plant and easy harvesting, but it likewise has the shortcoming of fluctuating yields—one year of high production followed by a year of rest.

Processing Method

Rose Valley uses a double anaerobic enzyme washed process. In terms of workflow, fully ripe coffee cherries with red skins are first picked, defective fruits are removed, and then the qualified cherries are placed into sealed stainless steel tanks with a specific enzyme group added for anaerobic fermentation. After fermentation, drying is still required—not simply direct sun-drying—but rather continuous monitoring of temperature changes and slow drying. The entire process must be controlled by the estate owner from start to finish; otherwise, quality is difficult to stabilize.

Colombia Rose Valley Roasting

Charge temperature: 180°C, turning point: 6'00", 151°C, first crack: 9'48", 183.3°C, development after first crack 2'10", discharged at 197°C

Colombia Rose Valley Cupping

Colombia Big Tree Estate Rose Valley

Region: Santander

Altitude: 1700 meters

Variety: Caturra

Processing method: double anaerobic fermentation washed

Brewing Parameters

Water:ice ratio 1:1, dose: 15, dripper: V60, water temperature: 91°C, grind size: fine granulated sugar (standard No. 20 sieve pass rate 80%), three-stage extraction method

Brewing:

For the first stage, bloom with water equal to one times the coffee dose, i.e. 30g, and bloom for 30 seconds; for the second stage, pour 70g of water, that is, stop the stage when the total reaches 100g, using a small stream and slowly circling; wait until the water level drops to half of the coffee bed before moving on to the third stage; for the third stage, pour 50g of water, for a total poured water amount of 140g, using a larger stream and slowly circling. After pouring, wait for the coffee liquid to finish dripping, then remove the dripper. Control the total extraction time within 2 minutes.

Flavor:

Rose, strawberry, honey, chocolate

Suggested Parameters for Rose Valley Iced Pour-Over

Dose: 15 grams

10 times hot water: 150 grams

5 times ice amount: 75 grams

Water temperature: 92°C

Grind size: No. 20 sieve pass rate 83% (EK43s setting 9, C40 setting 22)

Dripper: Hario V60

Technique: three-stage

First, place 75g of ice cubes into the server, pour 15g of ground coffee into the dripper, and gently level it. For the first stage, using a small stream of 3-4 ml/s, pour 30g of hot water from the center outward in small circles, and bloom for 30 seconds; after 30 seconds, using the same technique, pour the second stage of 60g of water. Be careful not to raise the water level too high, otherwise underextraction is likely; when the coffee liquid is almost dry, pour all of the remaining 60g of hot water at a flow rate of 3 ml/s, ensuring the total extraction time falls between 1 minute 50 seconds and 2 minutes.

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