Updated on February 09, 2023
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3 min read
The Colombia Javier Rubio is our latest Fresh Crop coffee feature. Tom from Padre Coffee HQ shares his recipes for both filter and espresso below for this fortnight's Fresh Crop Exclusive!
Being a part of the Padre team is, for me, like having an all-access pass to the Disneyland of coffee. Every week a new, dizzying array of samples land on our coffee table, often with esoteric labels that read black honey or malic fermentation or double-soak method.
Experimental coffee processing can lead to surprising and often wonderful flavour profiles, and it’s a privilege to be taken along for the ride. For my quotidian coffee needs, though, all roads lead back to washed Colombians like the Javier Rubio – a clean, sophisticated classic.
That’s not to say the origin story of this coffee is unremarkable – far from it, in fact. It comes courtesy of Javier and his brother, Hector, whose five-hectare farm, El Libano, is situated 1600 metres above sea level, between the Andean mountains and the Magdalena River.
Javier and Hector take great pains to ensure the quality of their coffee lots. For this offering, cherries were hand-sorted for ripeness before being exposed to an extended fermentation. Afterwards, the coffee was shadow-dried in beds until it reached an ideal moisture content.
On espresso, Javier Rubio has everything you could possibly ask of a quality Colombian. It’s rich and decadent, with a chocolate and toffee body that excels both black and with milk.
Be sure to try this one on filter, though, as I believe this is where it reveals its unique characteristics: it’s like honeyed tea, balanced with dash of lime and a pinch of warm spices.
There’s an elegance and versatility to the Javier Rubio that, in my eyes, makes it the perfect all-rounder brew. While I enjoy the rollercoaster ride of a wild, fruity natural as much as anyone, there’s a reason why washed Colombians are so exulted within specialty coffee.
After all, you can’t top perfection.
V60 Recipe
- 20g of coffee, ground at 32 clicks from finest on the Comandante Hand Grinder, or medium-coarse for the Porlex and Rhinowares Grinder.
- 300ml filtered water at 96 degrees
- V60 filter paper, V60 dripper (2 cup) and a cup or server for brewing
- Drip scales with timer
- Pourover kettle with temperature control
Preparation
Preheat your kettle to 96 degrees with filtered water and while your kettle boils, weigh and grind your coffee and set aside.
Fold your filter paper along its seam and place within V60 dripper. Sit the dripper on top of your vessel (cup or server) and place on top of your scales.
Once boiled, pour water over the filter paper to get rid of any unwanted paper residue and to heat your brewing vessel. Discard the water left in the vessel.
Add your coffee to the dripper, giving the cone a light shake to ensure a flat bed of ground coffee.
Tare off your scales and you're ready to go!
00:00
Start your timer and evenly pour 30ml of hot water over the coffee, I like to move the kettle in a small circular motion, working my way from inside to out, ensuring the grinds are fully saturated.
You will start to see bubbles in the saturated coffee, this is the blooming process and will make for an even extraction and enhance those lovely, sweet flavours. Allow to sit for 30-35 seconds.
00:30
After 30 seconds pour 100g of water to a total of 150g, using the same gentle motion as you did during the bloom.
1:30
Start your second pour with the remaining 150ml of water using the same technique as the last. Let the water run completely through the coffee and filter paper until drained.
2:20
Enjoy your coffee!
Espresso
Domestic espresso recipe (using a Breville Bambino)
- Dose: 21.5g
- Yield: 35g
- Time: 33secs
- Ratio: 1:1.6
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