Colombia - Monteblanco - Caturra/Bourbon - Watermelon CoFerment
Indulge in this unique co-ferment batch that will have you wondering if you're drinking coffee or watermelon juice (in the most amazing way). Our friend Rodrigo Sanchez has truly outdone himself with this masterpiece. It's difficult to put into words just how mind-blowing these coffee creations can be, and this one is no exception. Hurry and grab a bag before it's gone! See details below.
Coffee Info:
We Taste: Watermelon Jolly Ranchers, Blue Raspberry, Honey
Process: Watermelon Co-fermented Washed
Varietals: Caturra, Bourbon
Altitude: 1730 MASL
Farm info:
Finca Monteblanco, located high along the winding mountain roads of Vereda La Tocora in the San Adolfo municipality above Pitalito, is a family farm managed by Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia in the tradition of coffee cultivation that began with his grandfather.
Monteblanco’s 18 hectares sit on the crest of a hill, with the wet mill and drying facilities at the top of the farm and slopes of coffee planted below. In 2002 Rodrigo participated in a local program teaching local children of coffee producers to cup. Before that, he and his family had never considered coffee in terms of cup profile. By learning to differentiate profiles, he and his father and grandfather were able to make the connections between the farming techniques they applied and coffee’s resulting attributes
in the cup. At this time, Rodrigo also began to learn about cupping competitions that evaluate the best lots from farms in a region. He noticed that farms would win one year and then never again, so he decided to investigate how to produce quality coffee consistently. This led him to explore the trees planted on Monteblanco, where he discovered various varieties his grandfather had planted in the 1980’s. One of these varieties is Purple Caturra, a type of Caturra whose cherries ripen to a deep purple color. Rodrigo is proud that he, his wife Claudia Samboni, farm manager Don Gerardo, and the
team that works in the fields and at the mill have reached the goal of achieving consistent quality. Finca Monteblanco produces microlots with each harvest that serve as competition coffees around the world, but the farm also consistently produces containers of delicious
coffees that appear year-round on café menus and retail shelves. By applying an ethic of
rigorous monitoring, planning, and management at each stage of production and
processing, all coffees from Monteblanco showcase their full potential.
Process Info:
The Watermelon Coferment (Citrullus Nectar Co-fermented) Washed process starts with a mother culture, containing microorganisms such as lactobacillus and saccharomyces cerevisiae, sourced from Rodrigo’s Purple Caturra coffee cherries. A portion of this culture is set aside and enriched with sugar, molasses, and concentrated watermelon and melon juice. This infusion of ingredients not only enhances the flavor profile of the culture but also fuels the fermentation process, aligning its sugar content with the desired level corresponding to the coffee's Brix measurement. This primary fermentation phase of the mother culture spans nearly 200 hours to achieve the optimal Brix and pH levels suitable for coffee processing.
Upon arrival at the Monteblanco mill, coffee cherries undergo an initial assessment of their sugar content. Following this, cherries are meticulously sorted to remove any impurities before being pulped and transferred into a sealed tank with a capacity of 200 liters. Here, the fermented culture, previously enriched with fruit essences, is introduced into the tank alongside the pulped coffee. The mixture is left to ferment for several days under controlled conditions, ensuring that the environment maintains appropriate Brix and pH readings
Subsequently, the coffee undergoes a drying process, starting with 2–3 days of sun drying, followed by 15–18 days of shade drying under canopies until reaching a humidity level of 10–11%.
