For those of you with a keen memory, we have sent out two coffees from Finca La Esmeralda, one washed and one natural. This is the exact same washed coffee with notes of pear, florals, and stone fruits. As a reminder, this is a farm that our importer has a put a lot of money into agroforestry practices and genuine organic practices (way beyond the practices required for certification in the US). Since the last time you may have had this coffee, it has been aging in a 12 year bourbon oak barrel. This was a complete experiment, and the results were definitely interesting. You may notice the intense aroma of this coffee the first time you open the bag. It smells of all sorts sweet and fermented flavors. The instant you brew and taste the coffee, however, those aromas are not translated to the cup. The coffee has a strong dark chocolate presence, and there is a noticeable wood flavor, only with hints of the oak barrel. The cup does have a nice touch of vanilla and caramel, and depending on how it is brewed, subtle hints of clean acidity. I would love to hear your feedback on if you all enjoy this slightly darker roasted and more traditional-tasting coffee.
A: Honduras Finca La Esmeralda
Bourbon Oak Barrel Aged (washed bourbon)
Enjoy this approachable pink bourbon that tastes unlike any pink bourbon or washed anaerobic coffee I have ever had. It has a creamy and heavy texture, with subtle floral characteristics, and a note of ‘red delicious’ apple; the finish is particularly heavy on the dark-chocolate spectrum. The producers of this coffee, wife-husband duo—Claudia Samboni Rodrigo Sanchez—, operate the well respected and innovative farm. All their lots are single variety micro-lots that are generally exported directly to consumers. For processing, Las Nubes really learns into the cutting-edge of processing technology and conservation methods. Samboni and Sanchez, often processes the same lot with different methods to produce a whole different coffee experience. This particular lot is washed (cherries removed by water); then the coffee is anaerobically fermented for 60 hours in large waterless cans. Finally, the coffee is completely pulped (only the seed remains), and the coffee is anaerobically fermented for another 140 hours, before completely drying the seeds.