Colombia Rodrigo Sanzhez - cold washed pink bourbon

Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia is a third-generation coffee farmer at Finca Monteblanco. His grandfather began cultivating coffee here several decades ago and today, Rodrigo works to preserve the natural diversity and productivity of the farm.  

Rodrigo’s passion for research made this lot possible. It began in 2016 when he drew inspiration from wine making, where he saw that grapes fermented in cooler environments had more desirable floral and fruity notes. He began his experiments by freezing pulped coffee. Rodrigo continued experimenting with different temperatures and also expanded the scope of his project to include Brix degrees (sugar content) and different coffee varieties until he found exactly the right combination.  

Cherry is selectively handpicked and processed on the farm. Workers are trained to pick cherry at 26 to 30 Brix degrees. Once picked, cherry is floated and visually sorted to remove any underripes or damaged cherry. Only the best cherry is pulped and processed using this method. Coffee is put in GrainPro bags. The sealed bags are placed in an industrial fridge to ferment at 10 to 14 degrees Celsius for 76 hours. The cold temperatures slow down microbial activity and allow fermentation to happen more slowly. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid in direct sunlight on parabolic beds. Parchment is dried in direct sunlight for 1 to 2 days before being moved to raised beds in the shade. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes about 23 to 25 days for parchment to dry.  

Super floral and fresh cup of coffee, not a classic fermented Colombian one. I tried this coffee both filter and espresso and both ways it just tastes amazing, like a sweet and floral lemonade.