Diego’s process has been a revelation in the coffee world for the past few years. His methods, from coffee cherry selection, to using the fermented cherry juice to uniquely profile his lots, to using cultures to achieve huge flavors in the cup, have been mind blowing. His “thermal shock” processing method, however, is singularly his brain child. In layman’s terms, Diego’s final step in the fermentation process is exposing the green coffee in tanks to hot water (around 104-105 degrees) to open up the pores of the beans. After that, the thermal shock comes when the beans are washed with cold water to clean and rapidly cool the beans.
The beans are then dried with a mechanical dryer, to dehydrate and remove all moisture. The kicker is that this happens with no exposure to oxygen, ensuring that the heat from the dryer doesn’t alter the flavor penetration from his thermal shock method. The results are coffees that taste like nothing else in the coffee world. Each year we are rapt with anticipation when his coffees show up on our cupping table.
This year's lot is our absolute favorite thus far! We got notes of juicy fruit (like the gum), candied hibiscus, and guava nectar. Yum. We have a super limited quantity, basically only 8 roasts worth. So if you’re looking for a coffee that rips on a Chemex, Aeropress, Clever, or Origami dripper, get yourself a box or two here!
