Episodes
Saturday Feb 24, 2018
Saturday Feb 24, 2018
An In My Mug exclusive coffee roasted only for subscribers on Friday the 23rd of February, 2018.
Raul Perez has grown up around coffee, he comes from a fifth generation coffee farming family on his father's side, and a third generation family on his mother's side. Coffee has always been part of his life. He has told me about stories his grandparents would share with him about their experiences.
But I think it's fair to say that Raul has made plenty of his own coffee stories in his ten years of involvement in the specialty coffee industry.
It was ten years ago when Raul first became involved in the family business. After living in Guatemala City in his youth (so he was able to go to a good school and university), he returned to the farm where his family had still been working and commuting.
This coincided with a visit from an international buyer who made the family view coffee production in a different way. The speciality market was blossoming and the visitor gave them new ideas for varietals, picking, and processing that changed the direction of their farm and their cup quality. As Raul puts it, they began to work in a "more interactive way".
Finca La Soledad has been a Pérez family coffee farm since 1895, the farm is located in Acatenango, near to the Acatenango volcano. It has a great microclimate and an altitude of 1,650 metres above sea level.
The Pérez family invested heavily in their mill, rebuilding it with the environment in mind. They have a clever system through which they are able to recycle the water they use for processing many times.
Raul and his dad Henio work together on the farm to raise quality standards every day. Since that visit which sparked the changes, they have built a cupping and roasting lab on the farm and Raul has been roasting and cupping samples of days' pickings so they can learn at farm level what they can do to improve the cup.
The first time I met Raul was at a friend's wedding in Guatemala. I didn't know him (like most of the other guests), but we got talking and I enjoyed his company. At no time did he try to push his coffee on me, and I think only in passing did he say his family worked in coffee.
Raul was so kind he offered to take us back to our hotel that evening to save us having to get in a dodgy cab in Guatemala City.
I have an exporting partner in Guatemala who sent me this amazing sample, which I decided there and then we had to but. I was only after I committed to buying the coffee that I found out it was from Raul's farm.
Since then I've been lucky enough to visit the farm and meet the whole family. A fond memory that will stay with me is sitting on the unused drying patio with them all, enjoying a beer and watching the sun go down. They are a professional team and a lovely, warm family.
All our lots from La Soledad this year are washed coffees - meaning they are soaked in water to remove the fruit from the beans. This fermentation process plays a key part in developing the flavours that make a great coffee something special. It’s a super interesting (and complex!) part of the beans journey from the plant to us and one which clever producers like the Perez family are really starting to explore and experiment with.
In the cup expect a thick, sweet coffee. It’s golden sugar and cream, shifting in to chocolate coated raisins on the finish. This is the heaviest and gloopiest of the lots from the farm which really kicks that chocolate up a notch!
- Country: Guatemala
- Region: Acatenango
- Producers: Raul Pérez & Family
- Farm: Finca La Soledad
- Altitude: 1,650 m.a.s.l.
- Varietals grown: Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon, Typica & Pache
- Processing method: Washed
Cupping notes: Golden sugar, cream, chocolate coated raisins.
Saturday Feb 17, 2018
Saturday Feb 17, 2018
A coffee that I first fell in love with waaaaaaay back in 2007 is thankfully back for another year. After many years without it, I was massively excited to get this farm and coffee back two years ago, and I'm even more excited to be able to offer this coffee once again.
Finca Alaska is located just one hour from Santa Ana city. It's on the northwest slopes of the Santa Ana volcano, which is one of the most amazing coffee growing areas in El Salvador. It is owned by Ernesto Menéndez of La Ilusion fame – or Neto, as we like to call him! This is a name you should be familiar with by now, because I think you know how much I love the coffee that this amazing man grows. I often get asked what my favourite coffee of all time is and I will never say exactly (although my friends know the true answer), but I always narrow it to three coffees; one of them is definitely from Neto.
This is a coffee that we first saw back in 2007 (check out 2007 Steve and Neto in the pictures!) and I was desperate to have a long-term relationship with the grower. Due to some politics and miscommunication, it slipped through our fingers. The following year we bought coffee from La Ilusion, but it always felt like there was a piece of the jigsaw missing. I managed to get my hands on Finca Alaska four years later in 2011, and another four years later in 2015 I did it again. Now here we are in 2018, and we have it back once more. I will keep doing my best to not let it be four years until we see Finca Alaska again, I promise!
In the cup this tastes like a Cadbury's Dairy Milk bar left in the sun for just a little too long, with red grape and fresh lime acidity. It has a super sweet and clean finish.
- Country: El Salvador
- Region: Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range
- Nearest city: Santa Ana
- Farm: Finca Alaska
- Farmer: Juan Jose Ernesto Menéndez Argüello
- Altitude: 1,620 m.a.s.l.
- Farm size: 3.15 hectares
- Coffee growing area: 3.15 hectares
- Variety: Bourbon
- Processing system: Washed and sun dried
- Type of shade: Pepeto peludo, gravileo, cypress, copalchi, etc.
- Average annual rainfall: 2,100 mm
- Average temperature: 18º C
- Type of soil: Sandy loam
- Fauna: Armadillos, torogoz, agouti, snakes, squirrels, orioles, deer, hawks and rabbits
- GPS coordinates:
- Latitude: N 13º 52’ 22.2’’
- Longitude: W 89º 36’ 22.6’’
CUPPING NOTES
Cadbury's Dairy Milk, melted milk chocolate, red grape, lime.
Clean cup: (1–8): 7
Sweetness: (1–8): 7
Acidity: (1–8): 6
Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6.5
Flavour: (1–8): 6.5
Aftertaste: (1–8): 6
Balance: (1–8): 7
Overall: (1–8): 7
Correction:(+36): +36
Total: (max. 100): 89
Roasting Information
Medium to medium dark – get through first crack, and then slow it down. You want to be dropping just on the cusp of second crack.
"Quick Look" Guide
Cadbury's Dairy Milk, melted milk chocolate, red grape, lime.
Saturday Feb 10, 2018
Episode 483 on Monday the 12th of February, 2018. Bolivia Don Carlos Washed Caturra
Saturday Feb 10, 2018
Saturday Feb 10, 2018
Due to the complications within the Bolivian coffee industry, many of the smaller Bolivian farms we have worked with in the past are no longer producing coffee. Whilst this has created some challenges for us, it has had a much more significant impact on our exporting partners AgriCafe, who have been working with these growers for many years. As a result, AgriCafe have decided to begin farming for themselves, in an effort to demonstrate what can be achieved with the application of more modern techniques and a scientific farming approach.
AgriCafe now manage seven farms, and these are collectively known as the Buena Vista Project. Finca Don Carlos is the second farm of the project, and it was planted in Caranavi in 2014.
The farm is named in honour of Don Carlos, the oldest and most unconditionally awesome employee of AgriCafe. He was there at the start of the specialty coffee trend and, together with Pedro, helped to build the wet mill in Caranavi. To show their gratitude for all his good work, the company decided to give him partnership of the farm.
This farm, along with the other Buena Vista project farms, is run by Pedro Pablo Rodriguez, the son of Pedro Rodriguez who owns AgriCafe. AgriCafe first bought their farms in 2012, when it became clear they were facing rapidly decreasing coffee production across the country. They have 12 farms in total and this is one of 8 in the Caranavi region (the traditional coffee producing area of Bolivia). Pedro Pablo studied agronomy in Honduras and bought techniques he had learnt there to the Buena Vista Farms.
In 2016, farms surrounding Don Carlos suffered badly with Leaf Rust (also called Roya). This caused a substantial drop in production, but the farm developed a strong program to combat the disease, which they can now use when other farms are affected.
This is a washed Caturra lot containing both red and yellow fruit, the cherries are left for 15 hours to allow the fruit to begin to break down before it goes through the mechanical washing process.
In the cup a Mars a day helps you work, rest, and drink coffee! There's a Mars Bar mix of chocolate, nougat and caramel which is finished off with soft yellow fruit - think tinned peaches.
- Country: Bolivia
- Region: Bolinda - Caranavi
- Producer: AgriCafe
- Farm Name: Don Carlos
- Elevation: 1,550 – 1,650 m.a.s.l.
- Varietal: Red & Yellow Caturra
- Shade plants : Native species
- Other farm products: Timber
- Processing Method: Fully washed
- Washing: Mechanical
- Fermentation: dry – 15 hours
- Drying time: Stationary Dryers
- Drying time: 77 hours
Saturday Feb 03, 2018
Saturday Feb 03, 2018
Finca San José is the pride and joy of the Rodríguez family, and is now in the hands of a fourth and fifth generation of coffee producers. The story begins in 1815, when José María Rodriguez and Josefina Rodriguez (great-grandparents) planted the first coffee trees with their own hands.
Through the generations, the farm has passed through the hands of many committed farmers like José's son, Israel Rodriguez. He was then followed by Jose Maria Rodriguez, who took care of the farm until it came to Gloria Mercedes Rodriguez Fontán, the most recent owner.
Ever the strong woman, Gloria has overcome gender barriers in an industry that has historically been the province of men, and she personally supervises every step at the farm level. Gloria not only takes care of San José but, together with her siblings' support, she manages five other small farms which collectively add up to 38 hectares.
The mountain slopes of Finca San José are fully shaded by trees that help to maintain and preserve the crop and the surrounding environment. In addition to the trees' diversity, the farm is home to a variety of wild animals and birds, which can be seen in their natural habitat. San José is nested in the northwestern slope of an extinct volcanic crater, which holds a small lagoon inside it. The lagoon is named Nymph Lagoon, due to the abundance of water lilies.
San José has seventeen full-time workers performing several activities, such as shade tree and coffee pruning, vegetative tissue renewing, and weed control. All of this work is done skillfully by hand. Approximately 60 more seasonal workers assist in the harvest process, earning their livelihood from picking and selecting coffee cherries only at the peak of ripeness. The people who harvest coffee have extensive experience and share a commitment of growing a superior quality coffee.
Gloria believes in maintaining highly motivated staff; the farm's permanent workers are receiving almost 10% above the legal wage, while the seasonal workers received almost 50% more during harvest due to the importance of this specific task for the coffee's end quality.
One of Gloria’s major blessings is to have Antonio Avelino as her farm manager or 'mandador'. His level of commitment, knowledge and shared philosophy of quality makes him an integral part of this effort.
At Finca San José, coffee goes through extensive quality control in addition to being grown under standards that support specialty coffee production. The unique micro-climate conditions include an average altitude of 1,500 metres above sea level, an average temperature of 17°C, and rich and loamy clay soil; and the coffee grown is mainly Bourbon variety.
Some other works done to the farm recently included three foliar fertilizations and two soil fertilizations, including one of organic fertilizer named 'Huisil', which is based on soil studies to ensure specific requirements. Where possible, workers ply the farm with stem bending or 'agobio', and they perform coffee shade pruning to balance sunlight and shade requirements under sustainable levels. They also perform weed control, mainly manually.
One of Gloria’s commitments is to reinvest an important share of the economic benefits from this activity into the farms, impacting the people who toil the fields and maintaining the quality of the production chain from seed to cup.
In the cup I want you to imagine a cherry truffle chocolate that's been drenched in red wine. This big bodied, well structured and balanced coffee finishes with milk chocolate and a gentle sherry like kick.
- Country: El Salvador
- Department: Ahuachapán
- Municipality: Apaneca
- Nearest city: El Saitillal
- Farm: Finca San José
- Owner: Gloria Mercedes Rodriguez Fontán
- Farm manager: Antonio Avelino
- Type of shade: Pepeto, inga sp, and other native trees
- Processing method: Washed
- Varietal: Red Bourbon
- Average annual rainfall: 2,100 mm
- Altitude: 1,500 m.a.s.l.
- Average temperature: 17ºC
- Type of soil: Clay loam
- Mill and company where lot was processed: Beneficio El Carmen, Agrícola San Agustín, S.A. de C.V.
- Fauna: Armadillo, grey fox, small wildcats, agouti paca, hawks, pocket gopher, magpie, turquoise-browed Motmot, and others.
- GPS coordinates: Latitude: N 13º 52 52.3 / Longitude: W 89º 48 24.5