Variety Information
Ethiosar is a hybrid’s hybrid. It’s a cross between a Sudan Rume with a Sarchimore (which is itself a cross between a Timor and Villa Sarchi), this offspring is then re-crossed with a Villa Sarchi (a dwarf mutation of Bourbon from Costa Rica) again. It’s complex genetic diversity gives this variety resistance to coffee leaf rust (a type of fungus that has been decimating Central America for close to 10 years now), high production yields compared to a Caturra, and a vibrant cup profile.
We see tremendous potential with this varietal in terms of cup quality, and the fact that it’s a “work horse” of a variety has led us to plant it on most of our farms. It adapts very well to all of our micro-climates. We’ve been working with this variety for over 10 years. More recently, it was the only variety to obtain a 90+ score in our private auction, Los Favoritos, in collaboration with Alliance for Coffee Excellence and Cup of Excellence in 2021.
Funky Natural or Acetic Fermentation
This is a process in which we allow a certain amount of controlled over- fermentation in the cherries through an aggressive and relatively high ambient temperature.
It begins the same way as all our methods, by harvesting only ripe cherries. After they are floated in water to remove any unripe cherries (“floaters”) they are carefully transported to the dry mill. Once there, we lay out the whole cherries as a thick layer on a plastic tarp (we usually layout coffee as a thin layer for a more even dry and to prevent overfermentation). We also do not move the coffee as often (usually we move the coffee three to four times a day). A thicker layer and not moving the coffee as often will accelerate the rate fermentation.
We maintain the coffee covered on the patio for 36 hours under an average ambient temperature of 38*C, always monitoring that the cherries do not over ferment completely. Without our PH meter, we taste the cherries/mucilage to know when to stop the fermentation. We aim for some acetic acid creation but not the taste of vinegar.
After the controlled fermentation stage, the coffee is spread out as a thin layer, and it is moved more often. This specific lot sun dried on the patio for 5 days under 100% sunlight, and then an additional 28 days on the African beds until it reached 12% humidity. Total drying time for this lot is 33 days. The coffee is then moved into our well-ventilated warehouse and allowed to rest for 30 days before it is milled as dried cherries. After it is milled, the coffee is allowed to rest for an additional 30 days as a green bean. While sorting the green beans, we permit a fair number of “sour” beans to remain. We’ve done experiments where removing these beans actually brings the cup profile down, as it appears these beans give it the kick the Funky process is known for.
