Name: Juan David Puerta - Castillo Co-Fermented w/Rose & Lychee
Region: Armenia, Quindio, Colombia
Farm: SENS Coffee x Finca La Sirena
Processing: Honey (co-fermented with rose & lychee)
Varieties: Castillo
Altitude: 1,386 MASL
Notes: candied roses, sparkling white wine, lychee
Brew Ratios: For pourovers, try a 1:14 coffee-to-water ratio. 195˚F water. Start with a 1:2.1 ratio for espresso. 200˚F
More:
Juan Puerta is a young, first-generation Colombian coffee producer, who entered into the industry through university studies. As a student at the local university, Juan studied food science, with agriculture and gastronomy being of utmost importance to Colombian culture and the economy. In particular, one of Juan’s professor’s also owned a farm & whose son was beginning to apply various principles from food science to coffee processing. Long story short, after university, Juan made his way over to Jose Giraldo’s (Cafe 1959) processing center and led QC for Café 1959. His ultimate dream, though, is to own a farm of his own, which is where SENS Coffee comes in.
SENS Coffee is Juan’s business & entrepreneurial step into coffee processing of his own. Currently, Juan leases a couple of coffee farms that he tends to, and as a result, he keeps the harvest and has the freedom to process the coffees as he sees fit. When we were first introduced to Juan’s coffees by our partners at Yellow Rooster we were blind cupping and unanimously the whole team asked about his coffees. We love the connection to Jose Giraldo's family and goes to show just how small, intimate and precious this region of Colombia is. Many incredible coffees are coming out of Quindio.
Juan is innovating in coffee processing – even within the world of co-ferments with seemingly endless variety and experimentation. His particular style stands out among the rest, using fresh, ripe fruits, and a proven process resulting in a delicious cup that elicits clear fruit flavors without sacrificing complexity or drinkability. By taking Castillo cherries that would otherwise receive a lower quality score (thus, lower price) and applying his Osmotic Dehydration fruit fermentations, Juan creates new flavors and a high-quality product that yields more than five times the price than the same coffee would with traditional methods.
For this coffee, cherries are selectively picked and brought to the processing center in burlap bags. After 12 hours, the cherries are sorted and floated to separate out damaged, under- or overripe cherries, and otherwise defective cherries and seeds.
From there, the cherries are taken to a depulper, from which the freshly depulped seeds, retaining their mucilage, fall into a barrel lined with plastic. Juan then adds lychee syrup and fresh rose petals and creates a solution of water and glucose that he mixes in with the coffee before sealing the bag and barrel shut. After 48 hours, the bag is unsealed and the coffee spread onto patios to dry under the sun. After an average of 3 days, the coffee is taken to a mechanical dryer fueled by dried parchment to complete drying to 10% moisture after 2 more days.
