Why We Love This Coffee
It’s hard to believe how different the coffee landscape is now compared to when we were first introduced to Finca El Paraíso in 2019. Today, there are frankly too many anaerobics and experimentally-processed coffees on the market, many of which are done haphazardly and are full of off-putting flavors. The good ones are few and far between - but this is one of them!
Diego Samuel Bermudez has been on a mission to transform what can be done with coffee since 2008, despite not coming from a family with a long history of coffee farming. In 2015, Finca El Paraíso won first place in a regional competition and really made the dream start to become a reality. At that point, the family founded the company INDESTEC, with the purpose of researching and optimizing coffee processes.
This particular coffee starts with the harvest of peak ripeness coffee cherries, which contributes to the sweetness and consistency of the coffee. The cherries are then immediately disinfected with ozone to reduce the unwanted microbiological load in the process. Next, the cherries are immediately de-pulped, followed by a controlled anaerobic fermentation of 24 to 36 hours in sealed tanks, with the inoculation of Lactobacillus to intensify the smoothness and sweet notes.
A double thermal wash, starting with immersion in hot water at 48°C and culminating in a cold water shock at 4°C, seals the delicate aromatic compounds. Drying is carried out in a dehumidifier for 30 to 40 hours, ensuring a homogeneous and controlled moisture loss to stop the metabolic processes and to avoid over-fermentation. Throughout the process, temperature, pH, pressure, and other environmental factors are closely monitored.
Finally, the coffee is stabilized, hulled, and stored in a cool and controlled environment to preserve its exceptional freshness.
And the result? We taste tropical fruits like mango, big time acid (think grapefruit, lemon, and lime), plus a creamy soft peach note and some hints of flowers. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Water Recommendation:
For those of you who want to get every last drop of excellence out of this coffee, our preferred brewing water (at least for cupping) is full strength Third Wave Water (130ppm GH, 40ppm KH), though Rao/Perger water (90ppm GH, 42ppm KH) is not far behind.
Full-strength Third Wave Water gives the most juicy mango, peach, and key lime pie sweetness.
Half-strength Third Wave Water (65ppm GH, 20ppm KH), which is nearly identical to Lance Hedrick’s Light & Bright water (60ppm GH, 25ppm KH), gives a much more acid-driven cup profile that to our palates lacks sweetness - there is a ton of grapefruit, lemon, and lime but it just doesn’t seem quite rounded enough.
Rao/Perger water gives an excellent flavor profile that is just a little less sweet than full strength Third Wave Water. We do find there is a more diverse evolution of flavors as the coffee cools with this water though. It’s really good!
Philadelphia water (Baxter water supply) filtered with a three-stage carbon system with a little softening (somewhat similar to what a Brita pitcher would do) also gives an excellent cup profile, most similar to full strength Third Wave Water, but the finish fades faster.
If this is all very confusing—check out our blog post on water for coffee!
