Rio Prieto (BEST SELLER)

From the Farmer:

This is our first season offering a lot from Yauco–undeniably, Puerto Rico’s most well-known coffee town, dating back to the 1800’s. By the turn of the 19th century, Puerto Rico was the 6th largest exporter of coffee in the world, and although it was grown all over La Cordillera, farmers would travel on horseback or mules from all corners, over the mountains and into the bay of Yauco, where the sacks would be stamped with the name of the town before departing for Europe. Yauco remains a prominent coffee-producing town–not just by holding on to its glorious past, but because of its distinct terroir, influenced by leeward winds blowing off the nearby ocean, and heights that produce a significantly elongated growing season which extends far past the rainy season which typically coincides with peak harvest in other regions. In fact, we continued purchasing coffee from this group of producers for over a month after the rest of our farmers had finished their main harvest. For the Rio Prieto lot, we assembled a group of farmers led by one of the island’s most renowned producers and a selection of approximately 25 smallholders who came together and agreed to pick ripe coffee for the remaining two months of the season. To highlight the work of this uniquely dedicated group, we chose a process that considerably diverged from our signature Cordial Cherry. Instead, we used our modified version of a “natural carbonic maceration” washed process, to highlight distinct tropical fruit acidity and crisp aftertaste. While most of our line-up consists of heavy medium to full-bodied coffee with deep fruit undertones, this coffee stands out as a bit more snappy and stunningly crisp.