TASTING NOTES

Coffee tasting notes for Jose Merchan, Colombia: cherry cordial, wild bourbon, chocolate cake, brown spice, black walnut, fruit punch

COFFEE BACKGROUND

The Blueprint Coffee Boutique Series is a selection of offerings highlighting noteworthy partners around the globe. The Boutique Series features special varieties, unique processing methods, prestigious origin farms, and partnerships creating impacts on sustainability in the coffee industry. Because of their unique qualities, these offerings are available in limited releases. It’s a one-of-a-kind flavor experience our team has selected to showcase all the things we love most about coffee.

This coffee comes to us from our importer and exporter partner Equation. We’re proud to support Equation’s commitment to transparency and sustainability.

This lot is part of the Equation’s Delagua Coffee Paradise project, which aims to conserve water in coffee processing “by producing only natural processed micro-lots through a community-based model.” Equation collaborates with local growers, purchasing their coffee cherries and processing the coffees at Equation’s drying stations. With 68 producers in 19 villages involved, the project aims to save more than 880,000 liters of water per year compared to traditional washed processing methods. This approach also helps prevent contaminated water — a byproduct of some coffee processing — from polluting local waterways.

Jose Merchan Quintero’s farm is called María Auxiliadora. It’s nestled in the beautiful, lush Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in northern Colombia. There, Jose and his family tend to his 25,000 coffee plants, harvesting and processing delicious coffees. Jose processed this lot using anaerobic (without oxygen) fermentation: the coffee, still in its cherry, ferments in a sealed container for 30 hours. Then the coffee spends more than three weeks drying on the patio at a warm 30–35°C (86–95°F). This special processing creates a funky, sweet, and fruity cup.