Native Lumen – Both Lumen and Golden Hour come from the El Paraiso farm operated by Diego Bermudez. At this point, I think we all know the El Paraiso farm by now and treat the products from here like a delicate prize. Mostly all of the coffee grown here is Castillo, a varietal that is great for imparting the experimental processing to the coffees that the farm is so famous for. Lumen is in a line of coffees from Native Coffee Company that are not purely anaerobic fermentations. This is 80% Washed, and 20% of the classic Bermudez “thermal-shock double anaerobic”; read below on Golden Hour for a more extensive description of what that means. The washed portion of this blend is done in typical Colombia fashion with wet fermentation for 24-48 hours and then pulped before drying on raised beds. This cup is as clean as a fresh glass of ice water. I taste Herbal tea, Toffee, and cinnamon sugar. This is a truly classic Colombia. Delicious, everyday drinking sweet coffee. I brewed this with a 16.3:1 ratio and ground it one click finer than my typical starting point. I poured three pulses spaced out by 35 seconds, finishing my third pour at 2:00 for a 3:05 final brew time.
Native Golden Hour – This one is a true Diego Bermudez special. Diego studied chemistry in school and used this to extract specific yeast strains from the coffee plants that would then create a chemical reaction when the cherries are fermented under anaerobic conditions. This is not an anaerobic infusion or “coferment”, but using intentional strains to create a reaction during the fermentation that can bring out unusual flavors after the coffee is roasted. That is why the coffees from El Paraiso are always so dynamic and out of this world, rather than a boring coferment that has the predictable flavor of whatever was tossed in the tank. Then there is the thermal shock. I have discussed this before, about how I don’t know if I totally believe in the science behind it. What do I know though! The idea is the hot water in the fermentation after the first stage opens up the pores, so when the second anaerobic stage happens (Double Anaerobic thermal shock), the seeds pores are more open to the acids active in the tank. This coffee is, of course, fantastic. I taste tons of tropical fruit, mango, and jasmine. I brewed this with a 16.3:1 ratio and ground it one click finer than my typical starting point and poured three pulses spaced out by 35 seconds. I poured a quick bloom, with my final pour ending at 2:10 for a 3:10 final brew time.
Have Fun Guatemala Jaime Sanchez – A natural processed Guatemala! How exciting. I think these are becoming more common, but several years ago I remember hearing that only 2-5% of coffee in Guatemala was natural processed. Jaime Sanchez is a local legend in the Santa Rosa region, at his farm Las Flores. Jaime’s father has grown coffee his entire life and Jaime knew he was interested in joining the trade. He went to school for agricultural engineering and returned with knowledge of bio-diversity, soil use, which pesticides to use, and shade trees. Las Flores is a high elevation farm at 1885 MASL, and is a Marsellesa varietal. Marsellesa is a hybrid varietal that stems from Villa Sarchi and Timor, to create a disease-resistant varietal with good resistance to intense climates. This is a super fruit-forward cup. I tasted cherry, cola, and plum. I brewed this with a 16:1 ratio, and ground it two clicks finer than my typical starting point. I poured three pulses spaced out by 35 seconds, finishing my third pour at 2:25 for a 3:00 final brew time.
Have Fun Honduras Jesus Galeas – Jesus Galeas comes from a family of multi-generational coffee producers in Honduras. Jesus’ grandfather was one of the first producers in the Intibuca region. Jesus and his family are extremely involved in the community, regularly getting together with fellow producers and newer producers to assist with quality, production, and the heavy task of getting their coffee to the market. This is a natural Gesha, grown at 1700 MASL. The fermentation on this gesha begins with a 36 hour Anaerobic fermentation, and then dried on raised beds for an additional 36 days until peak moisture content is reached. In the cup I taste coconut, lime, and molasses. Not a gesha profile really at all in my opinion. I brewed this with a 15.5:1 ratio and ground it four clicks finer than my typical starting point. I poured three pulses spaced out by 35 seconds, finishing my third pour at 2:15 for a 2:55 final brew time.
Stimulus Coffee Club 