San Jose Gesha Natural

Producer Name: Erwin Mierisch
Farm Region: Jinotega
Nearest Town: Lipilulo
Year of Establishment: 2003
Farm Elevation: 1250– 1400 masl
Number of Plots on Farm: 6 plots
Lot Number: 2613
Plot name: Getsemani (“Gethsemane” in English)
Amount of Permanent Employees: 17
Amount of Temporary Employees During Harvest: 250
Cultivated Hectares: 46 hectares and 3 hectares of protected area
Typical Flowering Months: April/May
Typical Harvesting Months: December – March
Pick date of this lot: 13/02/2024
Drying time: 35 days
Wet Mill on Site? No, shares one with our other farm La Escondida, which is right
down the mountain.
Dry Mill Name/Location: Beneficio Don Esteban, Matagalpa (1:15 hr away)

Words from producer Erwin Mierisch…

"San Jose was purchased in 2003. It was owned by a local bank, but it was in abandoned conditions when we first heard it was for sale. Nevertheless, the altitude and a soil analysis we had commissioned showed that the farm had great potential. The farm boasts a soil with a PH level of 6, which helps different varieties assimilate better to the nutrients found in the soil. Usually, you try to match a specific varietal with the nutrients you have available in the soil, but this ability to assimilate allows us to grow pretty much any variety on this farm and the plant will thrive and produce high quality coffee. On the farm we have the following varietals growing: Javanica, Yellow and Red Pacamara, Yellow Pacas, Orange Pacas, Red Catuai, Caturra, and Gesha. And shortly Chiroso as well. San Jose shares a wet mill with our other farm, La Escondida."

This Gesha was processed as a full natural. The natural process begins at the farm by only selecting optimally blood red, ripe cherries. These are floated in clean water to remove any unripe fruit and then carefully transported to the dry mill where they are then spread as a thin layer on plastic tarps. These cherries are carefully moved within their assigned space approximately three times a day. We always make sure we do not damage the cherry while they are moved. At our dry mill Don Esteban, we do not dry on concrete patios. On the ground we place a thick layer of parchment which we then cover with a black colored polymeric material net that allows air to pass between the ground and the coffee; allowing a more even dry. This Gesha dried on the tarps for the first four days under 100% sunlight, in order to prevent over fermentation or mold growth. After this it was transferred onto raised beds inside our greenhouse with 75% shade for an additional 31 days until it reaches a humidity range of 11.5% or below. Total drying time for this lot was 35 days. Once dried, it is moved to our warehouse where they will stabilize as dried cherries for a month to homogenize the humidity in the beans."