Scott’s Spotlight Collection 3: Oh there’s no place like a fermentation tank for the holidays …
Wait, those aren’t the words. Whether you are a person enjoying the holidays at home, or a coffee bean basking in the glory of a fermentation tank, I will try my best to bring you together this December.
We have made it. December 2021. A year that has been filled with it’s own shares of struggles and uncertainties as we all work towards finding our new normal’s. But what better way to finish out a tough year than in the midst of holiday cheer and excitement. Hopefully the pick I made for my 3rd installment can help bring some warmth to this season for you.
To briefly recap:
My first selection was made to highlight a less than common varietal. A varietal is simply the type of coffee bean, or the variety. A good example of this I like to use are oranges. Navel oranges, cara cara oranges, blood oranges, etc. They are all different types, but at their core they are all oranges.
My second choice was again based on varietal but for a different reason. This time it was a very well known varietal hailing from Kenya that had been transplanted and grown in Costa Rica. It was interesting to see how the coffee was affected growing under different environmental conditions as well as being processed in a way not typically seen in Kenya.
This time around I went for an uncommon method of processing. Anaerobic fermentation. But before I dive into that, what is processing? There are a variety of methods out there for achieving the end result of green coffee beans. The two most common are known as washed and natural. It all refers to the process that takes place between the harvesting of ripe coffee cherries and the end green bean that is ready for roasting.
Anaerobic fermentation is then a step along the path of another processing method. The basic gist of anaerobic fermentation is the removal of oxygen from a sealed environment. The ripe, harvested coffee cherries will be placed in a sealed tank. As they begin to naturally break down they will release carbon dioxide which will pressurize the tank and force out the oxygen. In theory then, as the pressure builds the juices and sugars from the cherries will be forced deeper into the structure of the bean. Hence the reason most anaerobic fermented coffee offerings have such pronounced fruit notes.
This AF coffee comes to us from Finca El Mirador, located in the Huila department of Colombia. Owner Miller Bustos is a third generation producer on this farm, inheriting it from his mother 20 years ago. It is still very much a family run operation today as he has help from his two daughters that also have desires to stay within coffee. It is not hard to tell that he puts a lot of time, energy, and love into his coffees. I hope you are able to gather that for yourself with a cup. Happy holidays and I’ll catch you next year with the 4th installment.
-Scott
