Variety Information
Laurina, also known as Bourbon Pointu due to it elongated and pointy beans, is a natural mutation of the Bourbon variety that naturally only produces half the caffeine content compared to a regular Arabica varietal. We had our Laurina tested for its caffeine content in a lab in Germany and the results showed that it had only 0.60% caffeine compared to the 1.2-1.5% caffeine content found in other Arabica varietals. We obtained our seeds from a producer in Brazil around 10 years ago. Having less caffeine, which is a natural insecticide, attracts more broca beetles than other varieties; it is also susceptible to roya and other diseases. Although a low yielding varietal, people are attracted to it because of its cup profile, pointy beans, and low caffeine content. However, this upcoming season we have taken the conscious decision to just process Laurina as a Full Natural or whole cherry fermentation derivative. The reason is twofold: first, is water conservation. Washed process especially, uses considerable amounts of water. Second, is cup profile. Despite years on processing Laurina as Washed and Honeys, we’ve never felt satisfied with the results. The Full Naturals or Whole Cherry Fermentations were always superior cup-wise. Therefore, we will only process Laurina, going forward, as a Washed or Honey process upon request/pre-order.
Laurina, also known as Bourbon Pointu due to it elongated and pointy beans, is a natural mutation of the Bourbon variety that naturally only produces half the caffeine content compared to a regular Arabica varietal. We had our Laurina tested for its caffeine content in a lab in Germany and the results showed that it had only 0.60% caffeine compared to the 1.2-1.5% caffeine content found in other Arabica varietals. We obtained our seeds from a producer in Brazil around 10 years ago. Having less caffeine, which is a natural insecticide, attracts more broca beetles than other varieties; it is also susceptible to roya and other diseases. Although a low yielding varietal, people are attracted to it because of its cup profile, pointy beans, and low caffeine content. However, this upcoming season we have taken the conscious decision to just process Laurina as a Full Natural or whole cherry fermentation derivative. The reason is twofold: first, is water conservation. Washed process especially, uses considerable amounts of water. Second, is cup profile. Despite years on processing Laurina as Washed and Honeys, we’ve never felt satisfied with the results. The Full Naturals or Whole Cherry Fermentations were always superior cup-wise. Therefore, we will only process Laurina, going forward, as a Washed or Honey process upon request/pre-order.
Cold Anaerobic Process
Anaerobic fermentation simply means fermentation without the presence of oxygen. But going even further, its actually redundant to say “Anaerobic Fermentation” since biologically speaking all fermentation is anaerobic. It would be like saying wet-water. Hence, internally, we refer to this process as Fermentation at Low Temp, but marketing wise Cold Anaerobic has a nice ring to it. It begins with only picking optimally ripe, blood red, cherries. We placed floated and rinsed whole cherries into juice barrels (due to their food safe interior) with no water and covered with a lid. It’s important to note that we made sure that the lid would seal the barrel air tight so as to prevent any oxygen from entering the barrel. The lid was modified by drilling a hole in the middle and attaching a PVC pipe and valve. Using our industrial vacuum, we sucked out most of the remaining oxygen inside the barrel. We then attached plastic hosing to the valve and connected it to a water bottle (that was punctured at the top) filled three quarters of the way with water. By leaving the valve slightly open this creates an airlock whose purpose is to suck out any carbon dioxide that will be produced by the
coffee during fermentation.
Anaerobic fermentation simply means fermentation without the presence of oxygen. But going even further, its actually redundant to say “Anaerobic Fermentation” since biologically speaking all fermentation is anaerobic. It would be like saying wet-water. Hence, internally, we refer to this process as Fermentation at Low Temp, but marketing wise Cold Anaerobic has a nice ring to it. It begins with only picking optimally ripe, blood red, cherries. We placed floated and rinsed whole cherries into juice barrels (due to their food safe interior) with no water and covered with a lid. It’s important to note that we made sure that the lid would seal the barrel air tight so as to prevent any oxygen from entering the barrel. The lid was modified by drilling a hole in the middle and attaching a PVC pipe and valve. Using our industrial vacuum, we sucked out most of the remaining oxygen inside the barrel. We then attached plastic hosing to the valve and connected it to a water bottle (that was punctured at the top) filled three quarters of the way with water. By leaving the valve slightly open this creates an airlock whose purpose is to suck out any carbon dioxide that will be produced by the
coffee during fermentation.
Next, we placed the barrels inside a 6m X 9m X 3m cold room we built inside our warehouse. It is run by two industrial AC’s which keep the room between 6C and 10C. We let this lot of cherries ferment for a period of 60 hours.
After spending 60 hours inside the cold room, the cherries are spread out as a thin layer on our patio under 100% sunlight where they will spend for two days. The cherries are moved three to four times a day, always making sure not to damage the cherries. After spending two days on our patio they were transferred onto African beds inside a greenhouse. The cherries finish drying on the African beds after 30 days. So total drying time was 32 days when they reached a humidity level lower than 12.5%. Once the cherries reached our desired humidity, they were transported inside of our well ventilated warehouse where they were allowed to “rest,” or age, for a month as dried cherries. This allows for the humidity level to homogenize within all the beans. We then proceeded to hull the dried cherries, and then allow the “oro” or green beans to rest/age for another month. This second resting period allows for the flavors to balance out.
The cherries entered the barrels as a blood red color, but they changed into a darkish maroon after spending 60 hours at low temperatures. Cup-wise the first thing we noticed was that the profile was much cleaner, meaning the flavors were easier to identify. We also noticed a higher, but delicate, acidity. Naturals tend to display a fuller/heavier body, yet we’ve found that this process balanced the body with the newfound acidity. Some of our results were confirmed by Songer & Associates, Inc. who expressed that cold processed coffees had a “cleaner acidity.” In the anaerobic environment we are encouraging the growth of microbes that do not require oxygen to carry out their metabolic process by creating an atmosphere without oxygen and controlling the temperature. Some of these microbes include lactic acid and yeasts, such as saccharomyces cerevisiae (used to ferment beer and wine). Lactic acid will help in increasing the acidity of the coffee1. Since our most of the coffees increased in acidity, we can expect there to have been a significant amount of lactic acid produced during the fermentation.
The coffee bean is a living organism, and the substance spectrum found in a living organism is determined by their metabolism2. Our goal was to slow down the metabolism of the coffee bean by allowing it to ferment at cold temperatures. However, we do not want to stop it entirely. If the rate of fermentation is too slow this could lead to the development of butyric acid3. We want to avoid butyric acid fermentation, as these types of acids produce unpleasant flavors and odors. We are aiming for alcoholic or lactic acid fermentation. This slower rate of the metabolic process will lower the risk of over-fermentation, allow us to prolong the length of time of fermentation, and produce a cleaner cup profile with increased acidity.
Farm Information
Located in the department of Jinotega, La Escondida about 20 minutes driving from the city proper. It’s starts at the base of the same mountain our other two farms, Las Delicias and San Jose, are located at. La Escondida is home to our “varietal garden” this is where we test out new varieties before we decide if it’s worth planting it on one of our farms. The Laurina plot is called Ojo de Agua and it’s the only plantillo we irrigate due to its proximity to a river. This helps to accelerate the flowering stage, hence accelerating the harvest. The Laurina specifically is one of the first varieties to be picked in a season due to this irrigation system.
Located in the department of Jinotega, La Escondida about 20 minutes driving from the city proper. It’s starts at the base of the same mountain our other two farms, Las Delicias and San Jose, are located at. La Escondida is home to our “varietal garden” this is where we test out new varieties before we decide if it’s worth planting it on one of our farms. The Laurina plot is called Ojo de Agua and it’s the only plantillo we irrigate due to its proximity to a river. This helps to accelerate the flowering stage, hence accelerating the harvest. The Laurina specifically is one of the first varieties to be picked in a season due to this irrigation system.
1 L. Solis; Fundamental Processing Techniques Presentation, 06/2018
2 D. Selmar, M. Kleinwachter, G. Bytof; Cocoa and Coffee Fermentations: Metabolic Responses of Coffee Beans
During Processing and Their Impact on Coffee Flavor, pg. 434
3 Carlos and Maria Fernanda, Brando; Cocoa and Coffee Fermentations: Methods of Coffee Fermentation and Drying
2 D. Selmar, M. Kleinwachter, G. Bytof; Cocoa and Coffee Fermentations: Metabolic Responses of Coffee Beans
During Processing and Their Impact on Coffee Flavor, pg. 434
3 Carlos and Maria Fernanda, Brando; Cocoa and Coffee Fermentations: Methods of Coffee Fermentation and Drying