From : Atitán, Guatemala
Varietal : Sidra
Process : Washed
Notes : Prickly Pear, Chrysanthemum, Yerba Buena
125g whole coffee beans
Processing
Cherries are handpicked at peak ripeness, sorted, floated, pulped using a disc pulper, separated by density, fermented under water for 24 hours in open concrete tanks, washed, then dried on patios for 12-15 days.
I purchased this coffee from B-sides, Christopher Feran’s new green buying program, on a whim after reading the detailed story on Aviary. This is a project that I want to support as it incentivizes farmers to try processing methods without the risk of financial failure. This program also allows delicate to be able to partake in some rare/exclusive lots at the volume we can handle. Spoiler - the coffee is super unique and fun!
Sidra as a variety is something I am trying to dive deeper into after a few great experiences. This is an epic introduction to sidra. This coffee has a clean tea like body, structured acidity, a balance of soft perfumey fruits, and florals throughout that range from herbal chrysanthemum to pink/white flowers. Washed Sidras can have varying levels of herbals - this one leans into mild green herbals that do not overwhelm the cup, but complement it. Over days of tasting we have experienced notes of prickly pear, chrysanthemum, yerba buena, fresca, rambutan, coconut water, pink/white florals, and white tea.
From B-sides - https://bsides.coffee
On the slopes of Volcán Atitlán lives one of the largest germplasm libraries in Guatemala at Finca San Jerónimo Miramar—the product of four generations of farming by the Bressani family, countless experiments by Anacafe, abandoned variety trials by WCR, and the migration of plants and people from other coffee-growing countries. The farm's use of adaptive genetic management—a conservation practice that uses data about a plant from its productivity to nutrition requirements to quality to disease resistance—means that, through decades and generations, the farm's collection has adapted to the conditions at FSJM and continues to thrive, sometimes even long after the predecessors in their homes of origin have disappeared.
One of the cultivars in the collection, Sidra, came to Guatemala via Ecuador, provided by a friend of San Jerónimo, Nicolas Velez of Cafe Velez. Once believed to be a hybrid of Typica and Bourbon, Sidra came from Finca Experimental Chollo—the experimental variety farm owned by Nestle in Ecuador, founded in 1989. The story of the cultivar’s transmission is one that is now infamous: small producers broke into the facility in the middle of the night and stole seeds of unknown origin or provenance—seeds that turned out by Sidra.
The coffee that came from those plantings was of high quality, spreading Sidra further still and earning its nicknames of 'the People’s Coffee' from its Robin Hood-like origin story, and 'Gesha Killer' due to its performance in competition—a moniker that hinted at its true origins: like Gesha, genetic testing revealed that Sidra is a descendent of Ethiopian landraces.
