Producer: Jose Hernan Quintero / Finca La Pradera
Region: Ahuachapan, El Salvador
Variety: Red Bourbon
Preparation: Honey
Flavor: Purple Violets, Red Wine Gums, Yellow Stone Fruit, Juicy and Sweet
With this coffee you can enjoy a really nice clean cup that is not so process (honey) oriented, but rather comes across clear like a classic washed coffee, but brings all the attributes of a fine honey - lots of sweetness and lots of aroma as well as a juicy body.
In the cup, you can look forward to a lot of depth - it starts with a great florality that reminds us of purple violets due to the intensity, then it slowly moves on and the body of the coffee reveals itself with aromas of red wine gums and subtle hints of yellow stone fruits.
We prefer the V60 to brew this coffee. To flatter and accentuate the body of this coffee, we use a recipe with 5 infusions.
Grind 18 - 19 gr of coffee. Set the Commandante grinder to 27 clicks, and take 290 gr of water.
We take the first infusion as a pre-brew with 60 grams, poured in briskly and gyrating, let it brew for 35 seconds and then pour in another 60 grams of water every 15 seconds for the next 3 infusions, alternating gyrating and only in the middle. Pour the last infusion with 50 grams of water only in the middle. Enjoy 😉
In the summer of 2022, Philip met farmer Jose Hernan Quintero, and talked a lot with him about processing coffee and his work. Even before we were allowed to roast Jose's coffee for the first time as a Christmas special in 2022, we had the next batch from him on the table, a Red Bourbon, also prepared as a honey, but with a completely different taste profile. So the whole lot was bought again, this time a little more, which then went on its way with part of our Colombian harvest for 2023 in January and has now arrived.
Jose Hernan has been in the coffee business since childhood. His parents were coffee farmers and when he was 18, his father gave him a small plot of land to plant his first coffee bushes. At some point, he took over his parents' farm completely, but the socio-economic reality in Colombia put his dream of continuing his parents' farm to the test. People of the Rioblanco region had to flee due to the civil wars and guerrillas, but Jose stayed and tried to realise his dream - successfully.
In 2006, he was invited to participate in the Cup of Excellence for the first time and promptly placed 17th, and in 2009 he achieved 6th place. These successes motivated him to focus only in specialty coffee especially in honey process. This is particularly difficult in Colombia due to the climate.
Jose works the farm with his wife Nubia and their son. Nubia takes care of the bookkeeping and the traceability of the individual coffees, from which plot which coffee was harvested on which day. The son takes care of receiving the cherries from the pickers and then the post harvest sorting. He trains the pickers and gives them instructions on where and when to harvest. When Philip spoke to Jose it was clear that this aspect of working with the family and the workers is something he takes great pride in.
Harvesting, as is often the case in Colombia, takes place several times a year, with the first harvest, from which this coffee comes, taking place between April and May, and the second between October and December.
After harvesting, this coffee is de-pulped and then traditionally fermented for 72 hours or more if the coffee requires it. After that, the coffee is dried in the sun on raised beds and then further dried on covered terraces.
After many conversations with Jose following the first meeting, it was clear to Philip that he had found something very special here - an incredibly passionate farmer who shares his own attention to detail, as well as an incredibly great and clean honey processed coffee that is second to none in quality.
We at Cycle Roasters are delighted with our new relationship with Jose Hernan and his family, and are now pleased to bring you Jose's second batch.
