Notes of milk chocolate, candied orange, ice cream.
This is the first Java we have ever purchased, but we have long loved this obscure varietal for its creamy mouth feel, texture and explosion of fruit tones. Wilton's intensive processing only further highlights the complex and wild flavour notes of this beautiful, extremely limited lot.
Wilton Benitez, who is part mad scientist, part engineer, & part coffee farmer, has been producing coffee for 26 years, 16 years of which he has exclusively been focused on specialty coffee. With the help of his brother, he designs and builds all of the industry leading equipment that he uses to process coffee on his farm. He uses bio-reactors, that he built for controlled fermentation, as well as being able to maintain constant control of factors like temperature, pH, and brix. This is no small endeavour and requires a huge amount of dedication to the process. Once the washed parchment has been processed, he transfers the coffee to eco-dryers, again which he built, that run on meagre amounts of electricity, and allow to completely recycle the water that has been removed from the processed coffee.
Andrew had the opportunity to visit Wilton in October of 2023, after meeting him in El Salvador in March of that year and had a phenomenal 3 days at his farm with him & his team. The farm is a beautiful eco-system filled with local species of birds, animals, plants, all the which is surrounded by extremely healthy vegetation amongst one hundred hectares of specialty coffee.
Varietals: Java
Region: Piendamó, Cauca, Colombia
Altitude: 1900 MASL
Processing: Washed with Thermal Shock
Fermentation: Sterilization of the fruit with ultraviolet light before starting the fermentation for 96 hours in tanks.
