Our Coffee

OUR COFFEES

ROASTED COFFEE through roasting we seek to, highlighting the individual profiles of each coffee. So we attempt to caramelize the sugars of each batch just enough, to highlight the inner flavors while balancing body and sweetness to ensure equally excellence in every cup.

GREEN COFFEE We grow, produce and roast most of our coffee; this is why we can guarantee quality. We also export single origin lots and special blends of coffee that we grow or source directly with Colombian farmers. We listen to what the growers we work with have to say. We recognize and value their involvement. In exchange for their dedication to growing great Colombian coffee, we pay higher prices, because we are growers too and can recognize quality coffee when we see it. In the process, we create remarkable relationships.

PROCESSING METHODS The quality of coffee is dramatically impacted by the workers care, handling, picking and processing of the fruit and beans. The best coffees are picked by hand when they ripen thus ensuring continuity of overall quality. There are three types of processing and they are noteworthy for they are different as salt and sugar. Most specialty coffee roasters carry only washed beans. We carry them all.

Wet Processing

W ashed coffee is known the most intensive style of coffee processing, comprising of several steps that result in a coffee expressive of both aroma and flavors. Most coffee in the world is processed this way.After the coffee fruit is harvested, the flesh is removed and separated using a machine called a despulpadora. What remains is a bean covered in a thin, sugary layer of mucilage. There are two ways of removing the mucilage: via fermentation or mechanical separation. For fermentation, the coffee is poured into a clean tank where it rests in its own juices as naturally present bacteria and enzymes break down the mucilage layer. This is accomplished with the use of water. It requires 12-24 hours for completion, depending on the amount of mucilage on the beans, temperature and desired results. Once the mucilage can be easily rubbed off by hand, the coffee is then rinsed free of any residuals.At this phase the coffee is commonly referred to as pergamino, which describes the remaining protective layer covering the green bean, and it is dried in a variety of ways. Once the proper moisture content of 10-12% is achieved the parchment is set to rest. After resting, the parchment layer is removed using a trilladora resulting in a clean, polished green bean ready for the roaster.While overall the washed process seems pretty easy, fermentation is regarded as a craft. There are numerous subtleties in this technique that dramatically affect the cup. Skillfully manipulating these variables helps create amazing coffee.

S emi-washed coffee has a processing method follows a similar as washing except the mucilage is not removed but instead left to dry on the parchment layer. Not all semi-washed coffees skip mucilage removal entirely. Some are fermented just a little bit, lightly rinsed and laid out to dry. Others nearly complete fermentation and dry with maybe 25% mucilage remaining. Semi-washed is perhaps a more accurate term to describe this approach since it implies a wide spectrum of variability in the amount of mucilage intact while drying. Just like fermentation, a good semi-washed process requires observation and mastery because the mucilage layer plays a crucial role in creating cup character. The complicated part is drying. Once the beans pass through the despulpadora, special care has to be taken so the coffee dries quickly enough to prevent fermentation and stave off fungal growth but not too fast. The weather plays a large role too. The beans must be raked every 45 minutes until they are dry enough not to stick to your hand, usually 6 – 8 hours. More raking than average is often required beyond this point to ensure nothing rots. Once dried to the proper moisture, the coffee, with parchment and dried mucilage still attached, is set to rest. After resting it is milled just like a washed coffee before moving to the roaster. Semi-washed processing bridges the gap between washed and natural coffees, as it possesses some of the body and sweetness of a natural while retaining some of the acidity of a washed. Semi-washed coffees often have a syrupy body with high sweetness, round acidity and earthy undertones.

DRY Processing

Natural method, cherry is harvested and then dried fully intact as a whole fruit. What results is quite expected: a very fruity, exotic, coffee that is much sweeter and fuller in body than its counterparts. While semi-washed coffees require extensive care in the short term as they dry, naturals demand long term care and attention to detail. It takes roughly 6 weeks of goof weather to reach 10-12% moisture, and during that time any number of fungal growths can emerge to create rot and nasty flavors. The coffee needs to be hand-sorted daily to ensure the crop remains clean and free of mold. Once dry, the coffee remains fully encased in its fruit flesh until the roasting process begins. Naturals are generally more inconsistent in quality given that every bean is its own closed environment of varying levels of sugars and alcohols. To work with those variables in certain parameters is time-consuming and labor-intensive. This is one of the reasons why consistent, exquisite naturals are highly priced.

OUR JOURNEY BEGINS NOT SO DIFFERENT FROM MANY OTHER DREAMERS.
Cafe Quintaesencia

Our Roasts

There are many general roast descriptions for the coffees of the world.

The different roasts have many variables determined by timing. The longer a coffee is roasted, the darker more bitter and less acidic it becomes. Depending on the temperature, the size of the batch and the equipment used, roasting time is usually between 12-18 minutes.

At Café Quintaesencia we offer several different roasts that have been adjusted to bring out the best characteristics of each coffee.

We offer whole bean as well as grinded.

#	Coffee	Roast	Type	Description
1	Rosita roast	Light-medium	Washed	While it can be a mix of unbalanced flavors, it has and extreme taste. Too much citrus, overpowering floral and chocolate-like flavoring are some of the notes you can taste.
2	Henry roast	Medium	Washed	This is a roast that brings out the sweet-like flavors. It has a balanced body and acidity with carmelly, vanilla-like and fruity combination.
3	Full City roast	Medium-full	Washed	It is a full, rich and well-rounded coffee with a medium body and bright memorable finish. The flavor can be carmelly to chocolaty with berry-like hints. Sharp yet sweet.
4	Espresso roast	Deep	Washed	A rich coffee that is soft with a slight sharpness. Consistently outstanding whether enjoyed as a latte, on its own or even as an excellent cup of brewed coffee. Syrupy and nut-like.
5	French roast	Dark	Washed	The darkest roast we offer. This coffee has a bold and exotic caramelized taste. A great companion to an after dinner treat.
6	Luzma roast	Yellow Honey	Semi-Washed	Great sweetness with a balance acidity and fruity undertones.
7	Ruca roast	Black Honey	Natural Dried	It’s the most complex and rich in body. Sweet red fruit in the aroma, with hints of berries and melon balanced with a pleasant acidity and creamy body. Laborious and expensive.