Page 48 - Tropic Magazine Issue 30

TROPIC • COFFEE

Farm to filter

FLAVOUR The challenge for us as coffee roasters
is to cook the green beans in a way that
Oliver James, master roaster enhances their natural flavours.
and barista behind Tattooed Baristas are always aiming to extract
Sailor and Guyala Café, tells the best version of that roasted bean’s
flavour potential.
Tropic why ‘the source’ is so The magical red coffee cherries have My first trip to an international
coffee farm was over six years ago
integral to quality coffee. been processed in more or less the same to judge the Best of El Salvador Coffee
way for hundreds of years – either by Farming Competition.
Coffee drinkers have led roasters toward pulping the fruit, washing the seed and
three main flavour profiles – chocolatey, drying it in its parchment in the The winner produced a very high-
nutty caramel, and fruity. sun (called washed process), or sun scoring clean, sweet mango and
But where does the flavour come from? drying whole ripe cherries (called papaya flavoured coffee using a hybrid
Coffee farmers have the most influence natural process). processing technique and honey process;
over the flavour in your cup – by between aptly named for the very sticky mess the
60 and 95 per cent in fact, depending on beans get into while drying.
who you ask. This experimentation in processing is
leading to a much deeper understanding
Sweet red fruits, tropical on the science of coffee processing,
mango and passionfruit, giving farmers a greater level of control
and ability to achieve higher and more
vibrant fermented cocoa, sustainable prices.
intense chocolates, winey So much can go wrong; unripe and
overripe cherries can get through
and boozy quality controls, over fermentation
in tanks, over drying in beds, hotter
and drier climatic conditions. These
challenges result in poor cup quality
and poor prices.
Excitedly, coffee processing has been At the end of the day, incredible new
innovating in the last decade, taking flavours cost money to produce, from
influence from the wine industry and extra equipment to the skill and control
experimenting with new methods involved at the agricultural level.
like carbonic maceration, anaerobic For roasters, these coffees are often
fermentation and yeast inoculation. double or triple the cost, but so worth it.
At Tattooed Sailor, we’ve been lucky Next time you see one of these premium
enough to have a carbonic macerated coffees, give it a go!
Colombian bean. It smells like bubble-
gum as it’s being ground and tastes like INSTAGRAM: @ollyjames
a complex tropical fruit juice.

48 • Tropic • Issue 30