Description
Garry’s coffee special features three of our more interesting coffees. Higher acidity, interesting processing, this bundle is leaning towards more exotic coffee tones.
*Bundles change over time. You will get the listed coffees at the time of order. *
A pound each of:
Panama Premium Boquete – Damarli Estate – Typica Natural Processed
Boy it has certainly paid off being good buddies with Damarli Estate. Keith Pech, owner of Damarli Estate has some family in the U.P. (Michigan) and passes by our warehouse from time to time visiting his family. Keith is really on the cutting edge of Panamanian coffee, he won the Best of Panama in 2019 for his Imperial Pacamara and will likely have some winners in this years competition at the end of Sept. He really hooked it up with a nice high-end Natural Processed Catuai and Typica for far less money than the competition winners, high scoring, super fresh and very tasty lots. His mom is actually part of the Ruiz family who we sourced a ton of awesome Panama coffees from in years past.
This Typica Natural is nice and exotic but a bit on the milder side compared to the Catuai Natural, nice contrast between the two. Awesome prep and one heck of a cup. Pretty exotic stuff, if you are new to Natural Processed coffees, be in for something different. Being highly rated this cup will have some acidity to it.
Tasting Notes: A clean, sweet & smooth cup. Best at the lighter roast points but works nicely in the medium roast range as well. Lighter roasts focus the tastes more around the brighter citric/fruit tones: a hint of lemony citric that fades into a fruitiness, balancing with a darker malt like undertone. A good daily drinking lighter roast coffee. Comparatively to the Catuai, the Typica is mild mannered, delicate, less acidic, smoother, but with similar tastes. Medium roasts bring a more traditional cup with better balance. This should be the minimum roast level if you do not want noticeable floral/fruit notes upfront. Still has a bit of jazz upfront but a more pronounced nutty/malty tone to balance it out. The fruitiness turns a bit more normal for a natural, red-fruit like and sweet.
Roasting Notes: A bit dependent on personal taste what to do with this coffee and can be a bit harder to roast. High chaff, good to reduce the batch size slightly. Looks way darker roasted than it is, even at first crack, looks like you are pushing 2nd crack. If you are seeing splotches on a single beans, you are still in the light to medium ballpark. If you like acidity, floral and fruit tones, the front loaded light roast cup is pretty cool stuff. If you like traditional Panama and Central American coffee, good to go into the medium roast points to get some darker toned balance.
Damarli Estate is a specialty coffee farm located in Boquete, Panama. The estate dates back to 1995 when David Pech, a photographer in the United States and his wife Lia Pech (Ruiz) bought the farm from a bank foreclosure. Lia’s family, the Ruiz family, had been heavily involved in the coffee industry in Boquete for four generations; thus David and Lia were encouraged to get involved with the family industry as well.
Damarli, as a name came from a combination of the original investors: David and Lia and David’s father and mother (Manfred and Ruth Pech) – DA- for David, MA- for Manfred, R – for Ruth and LI – for Lia.
The estate was planted in 1996 and began to produce in 2001. For over one decade Damarli Estate sold the raw coffee cherries to Casa Ruiz, which was Lia’s family’s coffee business. In 2014, David and Lia’s son Keith moved from the United States to Panama in order to begin a new project at Damarli Estate. This was the beginning of a new chapter for the beans.
Keith began to identify all the unique coffee varieties that were grown at Damarli Estate and market them internationally. Keith and David began to process their own coffee at the estate in a way that would create sweet and unique cup profiles that had little to no water waste. They built a house on the estate to accept visitors, a new mill and drying beds to process all the coffees and a coffee tasting lab to accept international buyers. Damarli Estate is a beautiful farm filled with tropical birds, tall canopy forests and enchanting sunrises.
Indonesian Bali Org. – Kintamani Natural
A very unique, overly fermented (very fruity) cup of joe.
Bali is a tiny island– actually, a submerged volcano peak – just off the east coast of Java, with many small coffee farms. The farmers who grow Kintamani Natural belong to cooperative organizations known as Subak Abian (SA) founded on a Hindu philosophy known as “Tri Hita Karana” (the three causes of happiness). SA co-ops foster community in agricultural, social and religious activities, and have been certified Organic since 2008. Pesticides are never used on their coffee farms, and fertilizers are 100% organic.
SA farmers grow almost all heirloom Arabicas, Typica & Bourbon. They use trees such as Erythrina, Tangerine, and Orange to shade the coffee, which improves yield and cup quality and enhances wildlife habitat.
“Kintamani Natural” is 100% sundried on raised beds; It’s perhaps the first ever special prep natural Indonesian. Raised beds keep the cherry free of dirty flavor, and facilitate very quick drying in Bali’s high altitude sun and constant island breeze. The cup is extraordinarily exotic and unique with a rich, buttery mouthfeel, while retaining Indonesia’s full-bodied, savory character. It features super-intense, brandyish fruit flavors of plum and sweet cherry at lighter roasts; darker roasts develop much heavier body with a spicy, smoky twist. An easy roaster that’s exceptionally versatile, roast Bali “Kintamani Natural” any way you’d like; slow or quick, from first crack to French, you’ll get very unique and terrific flavor!
Tasting Notes:
Very fermenty/fruity, lower acidity cup with good body. A wild old world natural processed good from light to dark. A beautiful tasting bean this season: slightly fruitier but still balances with traditional Indonesian character. Hints of acidity with stronger fruitiness at lighter roasts, strong fruit/oak tones on a more nutty/earthy/chocolaty profile at darker roast points. No missing the wild side in this cup. Medium roasts are where one should shoot for their first roast, mutes some nutty tones and pronounces the chocolaty factor for some balance, still plenty of wild fruity natural processed tones in the cup. Dark roasts will introduce some smoky accents but retain great sweetness. A great balance of slow dried natural with thick and creamy dark tones all in one cup.
Roasting Notes:
Higher chaff and slightly uneven roasting. Right around a full city roast (close or touching 2nd crack) is going to be the sweet spot for a bulletproof roast level. Lighter can be quite tasty as well, much more emphasis on the fruitiness, but too light and one can get some sour/herbal. Most will want to push it more towards a medium roast or darker. Right before 2nd crack mutes up a bit of fruit but gets more like a single origin mokka java blend or Yemen type cup profile, a bit of rustic chocolate and a bit of fruit – almost anyone would like that cup!
Congo Org. Kivu – Virunga Coffee – Katana Station – Natural
I have always had a fascination with the Congo – perhaps from a movie I watched as a child. What a different place and culture! It is often seen in a dark light, but specialty coffee cultivation serves as a beacon of progress in a troubled place. Although I have still not personally been on the ground in the Congo (it’s on the bucket list). Our close buddies at Olam own a pretty cool coffee operation in the Congo called Viruga Coffee, it is bringing up specialty coffee in the Kivu region that is return, commands a higher dollar value and pumps much needed money back into infrastructure and expansion of the project.
This organic natural-processed ‘Kivu 3’ lot is from Katana station in South Kivu, one of 8 such stations operated by Virunga Coffee Company, set up by Schluter Ltd. (now Covoya Europe) in 2012 to produce specialty coffees in eastern DRC and improve livelihoods for smallholder farmers in the region.
The Katana area is blessed with abundant rainfall, and the excess water supply ensures ample irrigation for small-holder farmers. Situated at an altitutde of 1693 masl, the coffee in this region benefits from altitude, volcanic soils, and proximitiy to the equator, all contributing factors in its excellent quality. The station processes natural and honey coffee on shaded, raised beds.
Tasting Notes: A lovely, crisp, clean, but not overly fruity natural processed. We thought it best right around the medium roast ballpark but will make fans lighter or darker depending on your personal taste preference. Lighter roasting is a bit higher acidity, lemony and floral with some grape skin like fruitiness coming through. A bit more herbal spice right at first crack, needs a longer setup time to shine but will provide delicate chocolaty notes with much wilder acidity and fruity tones. Medium roasts were tasty without the wait! Balanced, tasty, and clean after 24 hours. A pronounced chocolaty factor, medium bodied, hints of crisp acidity backed with a little soft fruit tone and spice. Wonderfully smooth and delicate for a Congo coffee. Dark roasts were tasty right off the bat as well, roasty and stronger but with a sweeter then average edge. The smokiness does compliment the strong chocolaty undertones.
Roasting Notes: Slightly two toned at lighter roasts but even roasting for a natural. Medium chaff, have seen a lot worse out of boutique naturals but still higher than average. Darkens a little quickly, try and keep it between 1st and second crack for a smooth and defined cup. Right at first crack or into 2nd crack were our least favorite roasts. Anywhere in-between was quite tasty.
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