01/12/2022
First pick! This photo came in today via WhatsApp from Juan de La Cruz. Beautiful cherry is the result of a year long farm management program. The picked cherries are laid out on shade cloth to sort and then spend the night in the chilly Santa Elena air. In the morning Don Juan will float the cherries to remove anything damaged or overripe and then depulp. Then he will ferment the coffee for 24 hours in sealed barrels with salt water to promote a lacto bacteria dominated fermentation that creates a creamy or buttery cup profile. Juan dries the coffee without washing, which is called a honey process. He only harvests about 800 pounds of cherries each day, which means he will repeat these steps several times over the next 3 months to create a 10 bag microlote. This coffee won't be ready to roast until the fall of 2023. But don't worry, Juan de La Cruz, did the same thing last harvest. You can taste his coffee right now at .
