Flores Anaerobic Honey Process Turelelo

This coffee underwent a pretty interesting Anaerobic-Honey hybrid process that is no doubt behind the intense fruity flavors in the cup. The coffee cherries are first fermented in sealed bags for 72 hours, deprived of air. They then pulp the coffee, leaving behind a thin layer of fruit stuck to the seed for the drying stage. This is the "honey" part of the process, a name coined by Costa Rican coffee farmers who popularized the honey process method. When the layer of fruit dries, it oxidizes to a yellowish-red hue, and has the coloring of honey. Hence the name. At Turelelo, coffee dries in about 7 days, which is relatively fast. The owner of the Turelelo mill buy cherry from local collectors who act as intermediaries between small farmers from the nearby towns and the mill. It's worth noting the visual grade of the green coffee. We found several secondary defects, such as insect damage, pulper nicks, withered and chipped beans. We also found a dried cherry husk in the 1 lb. sample we pulled. All of that said, the review is based on the sample as it sat, which is to say we didn't remove any of the physical defects before roasting and cupping it (we did remove the cherry husk). The bottom line is that regardless of its appearance, the coffee cups very well! See photo of the green for reference.