Jorge Raul Rivera - Honey
Description
ROAST | LIGHT
ORIGIN | CHALATENANGO, EL SALVADOR
NOTES | MEYER LEMON, TROPICAL, PEACH, BLACK TEA
We are pretty big fans of Jorge Raul Rivera and his stunning Pacamara coffees - as evidenced by his regular appearance on our menu throughout the year. This time around, we thought to ourselves: What could be better than a new Jorge Raul Rivera release? And the answer, of course, is TWO Jorge Raul Rivera releases! We're offering two coffees from this incomparable producer in tandem so that you folks at home have the opportunity to taste them side-by-side, developing a better understanding of how processing methods influence flavor profile.
These two coffees are the same variety, were grown at the same elevation on the same farm, and were each tended by the same careful set of hands - but they taste remarkably different from one another! This coffee, which underwent the ever-meticulous honey processing method, is vibrant, tropical, and clean. The other underwent Jorge's protocol for natural processing, and it is full of orchard fruit flavors and red wine characteristics. While this honey lot makes us long for summer, the natural counterpart is warming our souls in the midst of winter.
We invite you to join us here at the cupping table and interact with both of these coffees together - not pitting them against one another, but appreciating them each more fully because of their unique differences in spite of so many similarities. Kind of like siblings, actually...
Processing: The honey processing method can be thought of as an "in-between" method of processing, compared to washed and naturally processed coffees. Using this method, the coffee is picked and sorted as red cherries before being pulped (removing the skin of the coffee cherry), but the small layer of fruit underneath the skin is left behind. The seeds - with their sticky fruit intact - are set out to dry, either on raised beds or patios. It is this added contact time between the fruit and the seed that, when done well, adds a characteristic sweetness to honey processed coffees.
In the cup: As a variety, Pacamara is known for its propensity toward the savory, often possessing herbaceous or even onion-y flavor characteristics. This coffee is certainly none of those things. Instead, this honey lot is vibrant, clean, and tropical, reminding us of some of our favorite Ethiopian coffees. Meyer lemon and peaches are the predominant fruit characteristics, and the overall tasting experience reminds us of sweet black tea. This coffee has us dreaming of summer and is best sipped from the comfort of a front porch swing.
Producer | Jorge Raul Rivera
Farm | Finca Santa Rosa
Process | Natural
Variety | Pacamara
Elevation | 1700 masl