Product Information - Brazil Vinhal Estate
Vinhal Estate Lot 'Grape(Welch’s)'
Origin : Cerrado Mineiro, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Varietal : Catuai 99
Process : Triple Honey
Altitude : 980masl - 1,100masl
Harvest : June - September
Vinhal family are the owners of Fazenda Recanto located in Serra do Salitre, Cerrado Mineiro, Minas Gerais, Brazil. They are driven to improve the quality of each lot in their farm, also they experiment to open up new spectrums of Brazilian coffee flavours.
Catuai IAC 99 may sound unfamiliar for many of you. The varietal was first developed by Agronomic Institute of Campinas in Brazil, and this coffee was registered as a commercial varietal in 1999, that the number 99 after the name 'Catuai' stands for which we find it fun. This varietal is a cross breed between Caturra and Mundo Novo, the red coffee cherries are medium in size and very sweet according to Rafael Vinhal who we reached out to for more information.
What makes completely different from conventional Brazilian coffee is their new processing method, called Triple Honey. This process consists of three different fermentation,
- Anaerobic fermentation in big bags as whole cherries after separating ripe cherries.
- De-pulping without water uses, then fermentation undergone in a tank with 100% mucilage.
- Adding water in the tank to initiate anaerobic fermentation to the coffee beans soaked, and cleaning up the mucilage and foreign matters from the parchments.
They have produced plenty of different lots with outstanding qualities, and our pick is this particular lot 'Grape(Welch’s).'
It is a light roast, thus the intensity of the brewed coffee would not be such a challenge to even non-coffee drinkers.
This experimental coffee from Brazil is possibly the indicator of where our coffee industry is flowing toward.
- (Always) It can be developed within the range of grape flavoured fizzy drink such as Welch's Grape Soda / Fanta Grape
- (Always) It can be developed within the range of exotic fruity characters such as Feijoa / Fruit Loops
- (Often) It can be reminiscent of honeycomb(hokey pokey)
- (Most likely) It tastes like the fruity milk left-over after you smash Fruit Loops in it when making this coffee as a white coffee
- (Sometimes) Its bitter and oily nuances can linger in the mouth, reminding of nut, particularly walnut or 95% cacao as aftertaste
- (Sometimes) It shows off purple flowery character such as violet
- (Often) The body is medium light, silky and slick but it can vary depending on different extractions
Also we have found this coffee consistently Welch's Grape Soda, Fruit Loops, Feijoa, and honeycomb during our production cupping & tasting with plenty of various brewing methods, so most of you are likely to get those as well.
It is roasted for both filter coffee and espresso, particularly the best on pour-over tools with the rough reference recipe as below.
- Brewing ratio : 1(coffee) to 15(brewing water) - with more than 1:16 ratio, its bitter taste may be dominant.
- Brewing time : around 02:20 to extract the most pleasant sugar level of this coffee.
- Brewing water temperature : 91 degrees Celsius water.
It is also very good with immersion methods such as Clever or Plunger.
- Brewing ratio : 1(coffee) to 14(brewing water).
- Brewing time : 4 to 5 minutes (coarse grind size).
- Brewing water temperature : over 94 degrees Celsius water.
Try this reference recipe on an espresso machine, then start dialing in accordingly if needed. Also we highly recommend trying it on milk.
- 20g dose in 20g basket
- Brewing time 19 seconds(on EK-43)
- 40g to 44g out
- Brewing water temperature : 93 degrees Celsius water.
