Colombia Marisela & Rigoberto Sánchez
Bold Profile | Medium-dark roast
Tasting Notes: Mulling Spices, Almond, Vanilla
IT ALL STARTS AT THE COFFEE FARM
This coffee was grown by siblings Marisela and Rigoberto Sánchez, and was dry milled and exported by our friends at La Real Expedicion Botanica (LaREB). Marisela and Rigoberto both live in their family home in Palestina, and each farm coffee on separate plots - Marisela grows the Castillo varietal, and Rigoberto grows Catarra.
Marisela runs the show at the family farm. Her parents
bought the land that her farm is on 80 years ago. They started planting coffee 10 years later - and have been producing coffee on that land for 70 years. Her brothers Rigoberto and Orlando started taking over the farm about 40 years ago, and she joined in about 10 years later. Even though they have been farming coffee on the land for so long, as Matcha from LaREB notes, “It is important to note that the soil there is NOT depleted. Yields are high and the trees are healthy, which means they are taking good care of the soil.”
Trees on Marisela’s farm are farther apart than most farms, so she has room to intersperse crops in between the trees, which act as nitrogen fixers and is a natural and traditional way to increase the health of the soil. She grows beans, plantains and corn, and then uses the discarded parts from these plants (as well as the coffee fruit she removes above) as fertilizer. Everything has a use - Marisela often burns coffee tree limbs that have been pruned in her house stove.
Everyone who is part of the LaREB farmer group does what’s called “wet processing” of their coffee, dries it, and then sends the coffee in parchment to the dry mill at LaREB. Marisela uses a depulper at her farm that is powered by electricity to separate the coffee fruit from the seeds (aka beans) inside. The coffee is then washed to remove all traces of fruit and sugar, and then dried.
This lot is a combination of Marisela’s Castillo varietal and Rigoberto’s Caturra - but Matcha let us know that Marisela also grows the extremely popular Gesha varietal! Her trees are now 5 years old, and this year she expects the yield will be incredibly high.
TRACEABILITY
PRODUCER
Marisela & Rigoberto Sánchez
MILL / WASHING STATION
On farm
PROCESSING
Washed
ALTITUDE
1515 - 1520 meters
DID YOU KNOW
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PRICE TRANSPARENCY
$4.30
Price paid by Driftaway
$4.25
Free on Board price
Not available
Farm Gate price
$1.99
Fair Trade price per pound
$1.79
Coffee C-Market price per pound
$0.05
Driftaway's World Coffee Research contribution per pound
This coffee travelled 2,638 miles to the Driftaway Coffee roastery in Queens.
Love the coffee? You can share your compliments & tasting observations with the farmers.
WHY DID WE SELECT THIS COFFEE?
We purchased this coffee from our friend Herbert Peñaloza. He started La Real Expedecion Botanica, which represents a colletive of farmers that spans all of Colombia, and focuses on direct trade between roasters and farmers.
This coffee has some really unique spice notes when roasted to this medium-dark level, and maintains a nuttiness and round body - a really great candidate for this Bold profile.
AVERAGE CUPPING SCORE
85.63
/100
85.63
SCAA Cupping Score
30 x 35 k
Bags purchased
1 year
Length of producer relationship
100% (in 2022)
Transparent coffees purchased
HOW DID WE ROAST THIS COFFEE?
This coffee is being roasted by Ian T. from February 25 to March 20 in Brooklyn. We use the Loring Kestrel roaster for this profile. We have strict guidelines for each of the coffee profiles, and this roast has to pass the development time ratio test as measured in real-time by the roasting software, Cropster. Once it does, it is approved for production.
QUALITY CONTROL
We perform Quality Control via a process of coffee tasting called cupping on all of our production roasts once a week at our roastery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Each cupping is conducted by James M. and Ian T. using standard equipment, and is logged by our Q-certified cupper Ian T. All coffees are evaluated on a scoring scale of 0 to 3.
- 3.0 = exceptional roast - exceeds expectations
- 2.5 = on par with profile - matches expectations
- 2.0 = good roast, but 1 or 2 elements could be improved - needs improvement
- 1.5 or lower = failed - do not ship
PRODUCTION AND SHIPPING
Less than 24 hours after roasting, we bag your coffee in our production facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Our production team is led by Anthony and Torie, and supported by a rotating cast of local artists, musicians and independent professionals.
AT YOUR HOME
Brew this coffee with your favorite home brewer and enjoy the taste of incredible coffee! Here are a few tips on how to make the best coffee on each brewer.
View other posts about how to make better coffee at home on our blog Coffeecademy.
