Roasted October 17
Tasting Notes:
Honey, Apricot Jam, Cherry Garcia Ice Cream.
Region:
Copán Ruins, Copán.
Farm:
San Isidro.
Varietal:
Catuai & Obata.
Elevation:
1300m.
Process:
Anaerobic Red Honey.
Importer:
Direct with help from Ally.
Notes from Lee at Quietly:
OH TO LIVE ON:
Sugar Mountain is our dedicated home to coffees that use experimental and innovative processing methods. Rather than simply being washed or natural, producers and washing stations are using new techniques. For example, low oxygen or anerobic, in which fresh cherries ferment in sealed barrels. By using a one-way valve, oxygen exits and cultivates an environment rich in yeast and sugar interactions. The resulting cups are often wildly tropical and will emphasis fruit-forward and deep funky notes. Sugar Mountain sometimes too features co-ferments, in which cherries are selectively mixed with other fruit or flavour elements, changing the sensory profile. Or it could be carbonic maceration! Or even lactic washed processing? These are the types of preparations that have you asking: what is this drink? And as Neil Young says in Sugar Mountain, "ain't it funny how you feel, when you're finding' out it's real?"
ORIGIN:
This is year eight I have worked with Katia Duke and she again delivers with unique methods for fermentation and drying cherries from her San Isidro farm. Her approach is unique as it pairs the institutional knowledge of multigenerational farming with a high level of technical expertise. Given she has a degree in Agronomy from the prestigious San Morano University, San Isidro maintains an exacting precision at every single stage from crop through processing and milling.
For this year's harvest, we brought back her low oxygen red honey! It was selected as the favourite coffee in last year's Advent Calander from the Roaster Pack, which is understandable given its stellar taste profile. For the lot, fresh cherries are first placed in sealed tanks, for a low oxygen fermentation cycle. Then are partially de-pulped removing the outer cherry layer but leaving 75% of the sticky mucilage layer intact. Coffee is then "placed on African beds to be exposed to the sun and the air flow".
FLAVOUR:
This coffee is perfect for these cool Fall mornings. It starts with the zing of fresh
cherry with some orange blossom aromatics before going quickly to cooked apricot notes. These more jammy fruit flavours come with a nice dense acidity that turns to honey and toffee flavours. The finish is long and lush with the vanilla icing and the warm spice of a gingerbread cake.
