Colombian Cauca – Manos Juntas Micromill – Yellow Bourbon – Anaerobic Natural

Description

Although growing coffee includes lot of science by default. Coffees like this are taking it to the next level.

This is a controlled fermentation natural processed coffee, done is sealed tanks – as opposed to just drying the cherries slowly outside, letting them ferment naturally. This allows farmers and processors to really dial in the natural processing.

This is a cool top lot put together by our buddies @ Cafe Imports on a single strain Yellow Bourbon lot. Unique and highly rated. A fun lot for home roasters to play with, cutting edge new wave coffee and processing without crazily breaking the bank. Panama takes the cake for tanked coffee in our opinion, but the lots often sell for $30+/lb, crazy money but mighty fine coffee.  This lot is proof Colombia is not super far behind though. A labor of love on the producing end with all the extra equipment and time it takes to produce.

Tasting Notes: A very crisp and clean “new wave” coffee. Highly rated; which will bring more potent acidity and soft fruit tones to the foreground at most roast levels.  Although the cup has some traditional Colombian features, they are brought to the next level with the anaerobic natural processing. Strong citric, floral, and grape like fruitiness combine to create a sweet edged, complex and exotic cup.

Traditional light roasts are where this cup will shine; crisp lemony acidity, sweet floral with a stronger grape like fruitiness.  Those lovely lighter tones comingle with hints of a smooth and nutty darker undertone to create some balance in the cup.

Medium roasts mute up some of the brighter, lighter tones, creating a smoother cup still on the exotic side; not nearly as punchy with the citric, floral and fruit but still no missing the fact its a natural processed. Brings the richer nutty/chocolaty tones to the foreground. Easier to drink all day but not quite the fruit/citric bomb of the lighter roast points.

Darker roasts are much more traditional Colombian tasting, bakers chocolate like with hints of nuttiness and a mild fruitiness that will appear as the cup cools, more of a barrel aged tone that compliments the more roasty side of coffee.

Roasting Notes:
Although tasty from light to dark, to see this cup shine keep it at the lighter roasts. With the more potent acidity and fruitiness, a longer setup will help bring out lots of complexity. We thought 2-3 days worked well but some may want to give it more into the 5-7 day range. Higher chaff but nice and even roasting for a natural. 

Coffee Bio:
Manos Juntas is a micromill in Sotara area of Colombia’s Cauca region, operated and managed by Banexport. The entire concept of this micromill is based on simplifying tasks and responsibilities, for both producers and Banexport.

This particular offering was first purchased in its cherry form when delivered to the mill by eight local producers, on the day of harvest. Upon arrival, the Brix and pH were recorded, and the cherries are placed in large hermetic tanks for a five-day-long anaerobic fermentation: Each tank is labeled with the name of the producer, to retain traceability. During this period, nitrogen gas is introduced into the tanks in order to stimulate the yeast. Brix and pH are measured constantly through this process and are used to determine the stopping point for fermentation; the coffee is then subjected to 20°C temperatures in order to cease fermentation and remove the yeast and other microorganisms. The cherry is then “aged” in tanks for a period of five more days before they are taken to solar dryers. Drying takes 30–45 days.

Once dried, the coffee is cupped and the lots created.

Banexport believes that when it comes to a breakdown in factors that contribute to quality:

• 50% is determined by crop production (fertilization, pruning, and proper harvest of cherries)
• 50% is determined by post-harvest processing (fermentation, pulping, drying, and storage)

Based on this understanding, Banexport decided to establish Manos Juntas Micromill, in which they purchase cherries from producers and manage the processing, drying, and storage themselves. This model allows producers to focus on healthy production of specialty coffee, while the meticulous work of sorting, processing, drying, and storing is managed by Banexport’s team.

Key takeaways about this program:

1. Producers deliver and sell coffee in cherry form to Banexport, by total weight. The riper the cherry, the heavier it is. This encourages better harvest practice that directly correlates to higher quality.
2. Producers get paid upfront for their coffee, typically producers have to wait 35 to 40 days for coffee to dry before selling it.
3. Banexport guarantees to pay producers a fixed price well above the market value for these cherries.
4. Producers involved are from surrounding farms. This means they need only to travel a short distance to deliver coffee, as opposed to driving many kilometers into town.
5. Coffee infrastructure, like drying beds, fermentation tanks, and depulpers, can be very expensive to purchase and maintain. With this model, farmers can forgo all of this hassle and focus on maintaining healthy trees.