Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia, Coconut-Lemonade Co-fermented

Region: Huila

Altitude: 1730 masl

Process: Coconut Lemonade Co-fermented Natural

Varietal: Caturra

We taste: Dulce de Coco, Lemonade, Piña Colada

Finca Monteblanco

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.

Coconut Lemonade Co-fermented washed

Cherry is selectively handpicked and delivered to the onsite wet mill. Cherry is floated to remove any under or over-ripe coffee. Before processing cherry, Rodrigo combines a mixture of microorganisms such as lactobacillus, saccharomyses and cerevisiae derived from Rodrigo’s Purple Caturra coffee cherries to promote fermentation. Rodrigo also added cholupa, a sour fruit often used to make a form of lemonade, and dried coconut to this mixture to add additional flavor. Finally, he adds a mixture of molasses and sugar to feed fermentation. The mixture is sealed and fermented for 8 days. After 8 days, coffee cherries are added to the fruit mixture and fermented for 190 hours. Following fermentation, coffee is washed in clean water and laid in parabolic beds to dry. Cherry is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 17 to 21 days for cherry to reach 10-11% humidity.

In the Cup

It’s hard to beat Christmas in Puerto Rico. This coffee transports us to the sunny holiday season. The first thing we noticed when grinding this coffee was the intense aroma of tropical coconut. When first brewed, the sensation reminded us of biting into a coconut candy, with a sweet-tart finish. As this coffee cools, the notes of lemonade and satiny mouthfeel become more prominent. This is an outstanding cup from start to finish, leaving a piña colada aftertaste that’s hard to beat.