Producer: Galo Fernando Morales Flores
Farm: Finca Cruz Loma
Varietal: Caturra, Sidra, and Typica
Process: Special Mixed Fermentation*
Altitude: 1450 masl
Drying: 18 days on Raised Bed
Harvest: August - October 2019
*Ripe cherries were floated on water and then fermented whole for 90-94 hours prior to pulping. Then they were fermented again in parchment underwater for 10-12 hours and then fully washed. The coffee was shade-dried on raised beds under canopies for 18 days.
More about Finca Cruz Loma:
Farmer Galo Fernando Morales Flores, his wife Maria Alexandra Rivera, and his family grew the coffee on their 175-acre plot of land in the community of San José de Minas in Pichincha, a small town in the mountains a short ways north of Quito. Besides coffee, the Morales family grow coffee, sugar cane, guanábana (soursop), corn, beans, and oranges on the farm they call Finca Cruz Loma, named for an intersection of road atop the hill. His focus is quality, which was recognized with a first-place finish in the 2019 Best of Quito-Pichincha coffee competition. Galo starts the process with meticulous cherry harvesting and floating to remove under ripe and damaged beans. Galo is currently working on building a cupping lab where he hopes to further investigate strategies for improving quality and training other producers on how to produce specialty coffee.
Ply's comment:
We usually like to age coffee up, let it de-gas a little, and mature its flavours for between 4-10 days. However, with some limited roast coffees like this, it is hard to wait. So I went rogue and brewed a cup a day after we roasted it.
My first impression was that this coffee is quite complex, sweet, and well-balanced. Even with very fresh coffee, I can taste the chamomile floral that mixed in with other tasting notes from initial taste to finish. There is a little lavender in there too. Quite sweet on the honey side. The acidity is similar to mixed red berries and blackberries, with a little bit of plum and pear. The acidity blends in well and is not overpowering. Then comes the sweet middle, like honey, chocolate milk, toffee, and custard. The mouthfeel might be a star for some of you. We noticed that it is juicy, buttery, creamy (milky?), which acts as a coating as it fills every part of your mouth. The finish is sweet, very clean with a hint of floral, and is very long.
There are a lot of nuanced flavours for you to pick out and it is more than likely that you will find some flavours we didn't pick up.
Update: June 7th.I did an Instagram live brewing this coffee 4 different way. You can catch it on our IGTV. But here is some recipe you can try.
Kalita Wave 185 or Origami with Wave filter:
15g coffee, medium grind - 260g water at 93C
- 50g bloom for 45 seconds
- add 50g of water and let drain (this should finish around 1:15-1:25)
- add 160g of water, and finish brew around 2:45
Cup characteristic: bright acidity, mid-high sweetness, and long and sweet finish. Light buttery and coating mouth feel, medium body.
Flavour notes: Chamomile floral throughout, cranberry, fresh green grape, light cocoa and toffee, honey, and chrysanthemum sweet finish.
Aeropress: inverted
15g coffee, medium grind 150g water brew 86C, 30g water bypass
- add 150g water all at once, stir for 20s
- brew for total of 1:20s
- flip and plunge, plunge slowly, about 45 second.
- add 30g of water to your coffee (or to the strength that you like)
Cup characteristic: high acidity, medium sweetness, soft finish. The balance is definitely lean toward acidity side. This may not be your cup.
Flavour notes: chamomile floral initially, fresh pear, plum, raspberries, honey sweetness,and soft cocoa finish.
Origami with Kono paper:
15g coffee, medium grind - 240g water 92C
- add 45g water for bloom for 45s
- then add up to 160g water
- @around 1:20-1:30 add water to 240g
- Total brew time around 2:30min
Cup Characteristic: medium acidity, high sweetness, heavy body, buttery, juicy mouthfeel
Tasting notes: Chamomile floral, mixed red berries, mango, pear, plum, chocolate and honey sweetness, long cocoa finished with a hint of chrysanthemum.
I really hope that you all will enjoy this coffee. It is definitely something a little different.
- Ply