Tasting Notes: Berry, Sugar, Dense

Variety: Castillo, Colombia

Processing: Washed

Origin: Narino, Colombia

Producers: Hermes Martinez

Altitude: 1800m

This coffee comes to us from Hermes Martinez, a coffee producer in the Narino department of Colombia. Hermes' Finca El Pedregal is large by Narino's standards, with over 40 hectares of land planted with mature Colombia and Castillo varietals. The farm has rich volcanic soil, and an on-site spring that can be used to irrigate the crops in the rare event that Narino has a shortage of rainfall. Mr. Martinez is an elder of the coffee producing profession at 78 years old and has been working with the same varietals on the same land for season after season, slowly perfecting the harvesting and processing methods to yield unbelievable flavors. A 24 hour dry ferment after washing these beans, plus a lot of care in picking and sorting, go into every lot from Pedregal - and we're so happy to have the chance to bring a club favorite back for this season!

The flavors we're getting in this lot are quite indicative of the Narino origin - some juicy berry tastes, and a cane sugar-like note give the cup Narino's characteristic sweetness. We're also tasting a great lime acidity that amps up the brightness in the cup and gives the brew a lovely, crisp quality. One of the things we love about this year's Pedregal is the density of flavor in each sip - which is to say that the richness of these flavor notes is on a whole other level. You can't get flavors this rich and defined from a coffee without perfecting the process for producing it year after year, which is what makes Pedregal a truly special brew.