Las Guacamayas - Natural

PRODUCER: Nehemias Pimentel and Hugo Pineda

LOCATION: Aldea Las Guacamayas, Jutiapa, Guatemala

ELEVATION: 1500-1800 MASL

VARIETY: Yellow Bourbon

PROCESSING: Anaerobic Natural

We Taste: Tropical Fruits, Caramel Cream, Syrupy

This 100% Yellow Bourbon lot from Nehemias Pimentel and Hugo Pineda is a sundried, anaerobically fermented coffee. All coffee must go through some process that removes the seed (coffee bean) from the fruit (cherry-like) it resides in. Then the isolated seed undergoes some period of fermentation before it is cleaned up, dried out, and packed into bags for shipping to folks like us! A washed coffee is typically depulped mechanically and washed with clean water. A natural coffee is typically left in its fruit during the fermentation and drying process before being depulped mechanically.

Coffee fermentation also has a broad spectrum of practices and styles. When we say coffee fermentation, we don’t mean fermentation like wine, beer, bread, or kimchi. At a base level, fermentation is simply the act of yeasts and bacteria metabolizing sugars and other organic compounds and leaving behind ethanol and vibrant acids. When it comes to coffee, we usually see two primary categories of fermentation: Aerobic and Anaerobic. Aerobic fermentation, meaning with oxygen, is quite simple but complex to oversee and monitor. Due to the high concentration of complex sugars and microorganisms, recently picked cherries are contained in an open tank or vat and left to ferment for a particular amount of time (typically between 12-72 hours). Anaerobic fermentation, meaning without oxygen, follows much of the same protocol, but the cherries or seeds are sealed during their stay in fermentation-station. This offers a controlled environment and provides a fermentation that heightens perceived sweetness and acidity in intense ways.

The result of the anaerobic fermentation on this lot from Jutiapa is a sweet, fruity, and syrupy coffee that reminds us of tropical fruits and caramel cream.