MEET THE PRODUCER | The way Milton Monroy tells it, he was born surrounded by coffee trees. And, as a fourth generation producer from the hills of Tolima, Colombia, that's really not so hard to believe. Milton's impeccable Castillo and Caturra lots, as well as his renown Gesha Clouds harvest, have featured on our menu many times, and he certainly needs little introduction here. Milton inherited his farm, San Cayetuno Alto, from his parents and pivoted its production entirely to specialty coffee in 2014. In doing so, he's been able to fetch higher prices for his coffee, employ more people on his farm, and implement many waste- and water-saving practices throughout the harvest and production stages. 

TRUST THE PROCESS | To reduce waste and maintain a high standard of quality, Milton is present during each harvest, ensuring that coffee cherries are picked at peak ripeness and go through several quality checks throughout processing, such as sizing and floating. And, by focusing primarily on naturally-processed coffees, the mill at San Cayetuno Alto is able to use much less water than many other coffee farms in the area.

TAKE A SIP | From a flavor perspective, this is the kind of natural Gesha we didn't really think existed a few years ago: it's clean, complex, and juicy, all without the high funk factor we often associate with natural-processed coffees. In this cup, the classic Gesha flavor profile really shines, with a fresh florality and fruit notes of lime zest, tangerine, and pomegranate. This is an elegant coffee - perhaps one of the cleanest Colombian naturals we've ever tasted - and a lovely example of Milton's commitment to excellence, both in production as well as in processing.

MEET THE PRODUCER | Fans of our wildly popular Honey Cinnamon release last year will be pleased to see Jairo Arcila's name back in the lineup. The Arcila family coffee empire has spanned over 80 years in Colombia, and since 2015 they have focused their efforts on producing, sourcing, and exporting some of the finest specialty coffee in the country. As producers, they specialize in alternative fermentation processes, and Jairo in particular is renown for his interesting and impeccably executed processing experiments. He prides himself on achieving unique flavor profiles that are not common among Colombian coffees, and this passionfruit maceration inoculation lot (say that ten times fast!) is his latest triumph in that endeavor.

TRUST THE PROCESS | The cherries are hand-picked at peak ripeness before settling in to a round of dry anaerobic fermentation for 72 hours. During this time, wine yeast and passionfruit macerate are added to the vessel with the coffee cherries. After the co-fermentation period, the cherries are pulped and spread out to dry on raised beds alongside their macerated passionfruit friends until optimal moisture content is achieved. 

TAKE A SIP | Registering at an 8 on our "funkiness scale," this coffee is a pretty profound example of co-fermentation. As a fruit, passionfruit itself is unique in its high citric acid content, and you're going to experience that acidity in this coffee as citrus zest, passionfruit (duh), and Tang! (for all the millennials out there). These flavors culminate into something bright and tropical and very delicious, reminding us of a familiar glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

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Origin | Armenia, Quindio, Colombia

Producer | Jairo Arcila

Farm | Finca Santa Monica

Process | Passionfruit Co-ferment

Variety |  Castillo

Elevation | 1500 masl

It may be April Fool's Day, but this coffee is no joke! We've teamed up with our buddies at Brandywine Coffee Roasters to bring you a really special, really delicious coffee collaboration. Here's what happened: we each roasted a co-fermented lot coming from renown Colombian producer Rodrigo Sanchez's farm (more on him later!), and then we blended those two lots together. The kind folks at Brandywine roasted a lime-and-mint co-fermented Caturra lot (did someone say, mojitos??) while we contributed the beloved kumquat co-fermented Caturra.

With this limited release, we're tipping our hats to the craft beer industry by highlighting the reality that we're part of a larger community through collaboration. You'll be seeing more of these special releases throughout the year, but for now... run, don't walk - you'd be a fool to miss this one. 

Meet the Producer | Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia is a third-generation coffee farmer, but his father and grandfather before him had never considered the coffee they were growing in terms of its cup profile. That is to say, they didn't really know that their farming and processing techniques could have a huge impact on the flavor and quality of the coffees they were producing. UNTIL. In 2002, Rodrigo participated in a local program that sought to communicate cupping, coffee competitions, and lot scoring to children of coffee producers. With this newfound understanding and a profound desire to produce high-quality coffee consistently, Rodrigo and his family set off on a mission to re-imagine the work they'd been doing at Finca Monteblanco, and the coffees coming from that farm today are a testament to their rigorous persistence in that endeavor.

Trust the Process | Co-fermentation at Finca Monteblanco is serious business - like, high school AP Chemistry class-serious.These unique infusion processes begin with 190 hours of fermentation - not of the coffee cherries, but of the mother culture which is created on Rodrigo's farm, using micro-organisms derived from his own coffee trees. During those 190 hours, 80 liters of the indigenous mother culture is fed a mixture of the infusion ingredients and a sweetener, like molasses. The infusion ingredients contribute flavor while the sweetener increases the sugar content of the culture and fuels the fermentation process.

Upon reaching the wet mill at the top of the farm, the coffee cherries picked for this unique process are measured for sugar content and then floated to remove lower-density beans. Then, the cherries are pulped before being placed in a 200-liter sealed tank, where they get to mingle with that infused mother culture for 180 hours. Once the party is over, the cherries are removed to dry in direct sunlight for the first 2-3 days, finishing that drying process under shaded canopies for an additional 15-18 days, or until 10-11% humidity is achieved.

Take a Sip | Sometimes, co-fermented coffees can come off as a little one-dimensional. But sometimes, they simply blow us away. These two lots, so carefully monitored, planned, and managed at each stage of production by Rodrigo and his team, are wonderfully complex on their own. When blended together, they make a really, really great team - just like us and Brandywine! This coffee is floral on the nose and in the cup, and it's both sweet and citric in a way that reminds us of orange creamsicles. There's a nod to fleshy stone fruits, like peach tea - and the mint note from the infusion process prevails as well! The whole experience reminds us of enjoying things like tea and popsicles and - yes! - mojitos, with our friends on a front porch in the Spring - which is a pretty fitting visual for this collaborative release, if you ask us. 

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Origin | La Tocora, San Adolfo, Huila, Colombia

Producer | Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia

Farm | Finca Monteblanco

Process | Mixed co-fermentation

Variety | Caturra

Elevation | 1730 masl