Tasting Notes: Watermelon, Plum, Candy Sweetness

**Cup of Excellence 2021 winning producer!

This blend is 73% Gesha and 27% Maracaturra coffee. The blending of these coffees was a logical choice for Pablo for a number of reasons. These plants have similar ripening times and very similar sugar content as well. Maracaturra trees are planted between Gesha plants on one of the lots at El Obraje, so the cherries are harvested and blended right away. Maracaturra was chosen originally as an experimental variety for El Obraje from farms in Central America. The variety makes up just a small portion of the farm’s total production, but its unique flavor profile of yellow fruits and honeysuckle florals make it an irreplaceable component in Colibri Blend.

The cherries were first fermented whole for 40 hours in sealed tanks. This anaerobic environment allows only specific bacteria to work and break down sugars. After depulping, the coffee was dry fermented for another 40 hours in sealed GrainPro bags. This second fermentation allows natural yeasts and lactic bacteria to work, developing deep flavors in the coffee. Once the sugar content reaches 10 degrees Brix, the coffee is rinsed to remove excess mucilage before being moved to drying beds for 20–25 days of drying. During the peak of harvest, when mill capacity is at its maximum, the coffee is instead dried on raised beds for 16 days and then dried under the hot 30°C airflow of the mechanical parchment combustion dryer for 4 days.

Obraje is located near many volcanic mountains and the rocky soil is filled with minerals. Obraje maintains its own nursery to take care of coffee trees in their early stages. The team plants seeds directly into 2kg soil bags to let the seedlings grow before replanting them in the field. The farm applies mixed fertilizations: of 1kg-2kg of organic fertilizer and 300g of chemical fertilizer per tree.