{"id":755,"date":"2018-06-20T04:00:47","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T14:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/2018\/06\/20\/improving-vietnams-coffee-quality-one-variety-at-a-time\/"},"modified":"2018-07-30T15:19:06","modified_gmt":"2018-07-31T01:19:06","slug":"improving-vietnams-coffee-quality-one-variety-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/2018\/06\/20\/improving-vietnams-coffee-quality-one-variety-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving Vietnam\u2019s Coffee Quality, One Variety At A Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Although it is the world\u2019s second-largest coffee producer, Vietnam has never had a reputation for producing high-quality Arabica. Robusta accounts for the majority of beans grown in the country, meaning that the likeliest place you\u2019ve experienced Vietnamese coffee is in espresso blends\u2014where it’s added for crema-improving qualities\u2014or as instant, freeze-dried powder. <\/span><\/p>\n

This year, three domestic producers are hoping to change that. Tran Nhat Quang from\u00a0La Viet Coffee<\/span><\/a>, Nguyen Dung from\u00a0The Workshop<\/span><\/a>, and Nguyen Canh Hung from\u00a0Bosgaurus Coffee<\/span><\/a> share a mutual vision of bringing Vietnamese Arabica\u2019s overall quality up to specialty standards. By innovating growing and processing practices in Vietnam’s central highlands, they hope to develop a high-quality coffee production model that can scale.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bosgaurus Coffee’s Nguyen Canh Hung<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The three chose to hone in on a single varietal for improvement\u2014Catimor. Catimor, often typecast by the specialty coffee industry for its characteristics inherited from Robusta, is nonetheless widely planted in Vietnam due to its high yield and leaf rust resistance. Its quality improvement could, as a result, have a major impact on the country\u2019s overall coffee quality, and affect a greater number of producers than that of any other varietal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The First Brick In The Wall<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Broad changes to industry take time and effort. This year, the three producers focused on improving the cup quality from a single farm\u2014owned and operated by Pham Manh Hung. They helped Pham implement harvesting and processing best practices across his five-hectare land area (about the size of seven soccer fields), which has a production capacity of 10 tons of Catimor per year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Pham\u2019s farm is located at 1,450 meters above sea level, in the Lam Dong region\u2019s Cau Dat area\u2014Lam Dong is where the majority of Arabica is cultivated in Vietnam, with varietals overwhelmingly constituted of Red and Yellow Catimor. Prior to this year, Pham had been planting commodity-grade coffee for 10 years. He decided to collaborate with La Viet, The Workshop, and Bosgaurus to raise his coffee quality to specialty standards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They began with the harvest.<\/p>\n

Because strip harvesting is the norm in Vietnam, it is vital to provide producers with skills in selective picking. Wages for harvesting are typically paid by weight of picked cherry\u2014to increase quality, that metric has to be shifted to cherry quality. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOld habits die hard,\u201d Bosgaurus Coffee owner Nguyen Canh Hung says of the implementation of quality-focused picking on Pham’s farm. \u201cAlthough we paid pickers higher wages than the market standard, close monitoring and incentives to reward pickers were needed to improve quality. We gradually increased the percentage of ripe cherries picked, achieving 99% by the end of the harvest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trust The Processing<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Bosgaurus Coffee<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For the owners of Bosgaurus, La Viet, and The Workshop, acquiring ripe cherries was just the first step in a longer journey to scale specialty grade coffee to Vietnam. The next step was applying innovative processing methods. Generally, processing is overlooked by the country\u2019s coffee industry, and in fact is regarded as a potential risk to quality rather than a tool with which to improve it. The industry\u2019s assumption as a whole is that the longer a coffee’s processing time, the higher the risk of beans being subject to unexpected weather changes. Bosgaurus\u2019 Nguyen believes that changing this mindset is crucial, and that processing could become a positive agent of increasing quality if he can reduce its variability.<\/span><\/p>\n

The three producers started by experimenting with a processing method borrowed from wine production called yeast fermentation. They bought yeasts from\u00a0Fermentis<\/span><\/a>\u2014a company specializing in producing yeasts for beer and wine processing. Yeasts were hydrated and injected into fermentation tanks along with coffee seeds for different durations, between 22 and 72 hours. Every two hours during the fermentation process, data on moisture content, humidity, temperature, water quality, pH, and degrees Brix were measured and recorded.<\/span><\/p>\n

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After, washed beans were dried on raised beds for 20 days. Typically, Vietnamese Catimor tends to have a sharp acidity, with a woody and nutty flavor. Coffee from one recent batch of 72-hour yeast-processed Catimor prepared with a Hario V60, however, dazzled with a bright and fruity acidity more akin to Kenyan coffees\u2014the mouthfeel was juicy and the aftertaste sweet. And although this particular brew had some of the varietal’s signature woody flavor, once cooled, the cup\u2019s overall complexity was remarkable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor now, the exact effect of yeasts on coffee flavor remains to be seen,\u201d Bosgaurus\u2019 Nguyen says. \u201cAs this is a novel approach to coffee processing, we cannot say for sure which yeast strain will contribute which flavor to the coffee.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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He went on to explain that through a relationship with Lucia Solis<\/span><\/a>, a prominent coffee fermentation designer currently experimenting with yeast fermentation processing in countries across South America, he was developing specific processing techniques to bring sweetness to Catimor\u2019s flavor profile. They\u2019re also finding that longer fermentation times appear to lend more complexity and higher cupping scores to coffees.<\/span><\/p>\n

The quality specialists in Vietnam are also experimenting with a method of juice fermentation, which entails flushing fermentation tanks with water, yeast, and fresh, concentrated pineapple juice for a period of 36 hours. The juice provides nutrition for the yeasts, accelerating their microbial activity to add fruitier flavors to coffee. The end result of one juice fermentation trial was a sample aptly named \u201cPineapple,\u201d whose cups had an aroma of tropical fruit, a citrus-like acidity, a hint of orange sweetness, tea-like body, and a chocolatey finish.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Along with the batches of yeast and juice-fermented coffees, a sample of anaerobic, naturally fermented Catimor was recently served at Bosgaurus in limited quantity. Nguyen says the goal for developing this particular method is to promote cup consistency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking Forward<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Vietnam’s reigning Barista Champion, Tran Han<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Measuring the experiments on Pham\u2019s farm in terms of their impact on cupping scores is already taking place. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe sent samples to\u00a0Johan & Nystr\u00f6m<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in Sweden,\u00a0Toby\u2019s Estate<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in Australia, and partners in Germany and Japan for blind cuppings,\u201d Nguyen says. \u201cIn the United States, with the help of\u00a0Modbar<\/span><\/a>‘s Will Frith, our coffee was cupped at\u00a0Sustainable Harvest<\/span><\/a>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The results of these blind cuppings were striking. All samples received cupping scores between 82 and 84. As details about each coffee was revealed, those who had taken part in the exercise were surprised.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe change we achieved this year was promising,\u201d Nguyen says. \u201cWe owe this success to the hard work of farmers and baristas from La Viet, The Workshop, and Bosgaurus. Next year, we want to keep up the good work and establish a stable production model, before replicating it on other farms in the region.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For now, new facilities, equipment, and plans are already being prepared for Pham\u2019s next crop. <\/span><\/p>\n

Tung Nguyen is a freelance journalist based in Vietnam. This is Tung Nguyen’s first feature for Sprudge Media Network.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Improving Vietnam’s Coffee Quality, One Variety At A Time<\/a> appeared first on Sprudge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Source: Coffee News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although it is the world\u2019s second-largest coffee producer, Vietnam has never had a reputation for producing high-quality Arabica. Robusta accounts for the majority of beans grown in the country, meaning…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,41],"tags":[63,45,65,47,61,49,59,67,55,57],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":783,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions\/783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecurbkaimuki.com\/rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}