Coffea Diversa - Guatemala - Cioiccie - Anaerobic Honey
Cioccie is an Ethiopian landrace variety native to Jimma. It has many genetic similarities to Geisha, although is much lower yielding, which produces exceptional cup quality. When we first cupped it we couldn't believe what we tasted; Geisha at high volume, but with a distinct milky-tea quality, a silky body and incredible length. Expect a floral, refined coffee with notes of rose, vanilla, and blueberry.
Info
Farm
Gonzalo Hernandez and Jose Padilla founded Coffea Diversa Suchitan in 2011, as an extension of the original Coffea Diversa garden in Biolley, Costa Rica. They settled in what they believe was the best region in Guatemala for cultivating a large catalogue of unique, high-quality varieties. They decided upon Volcan de Suchitan as the best microclimate to nurture these varieties and help them reach their full potential. Today, they successfully cultivate a plethora of extremely rare coffee species and varieties.
Microclimate
The farm receives between 950-1300mm of rainfall per year and has Inga, avocado, and other native trees for shade. This 'agroforesty' model provides adequate shade and keeps the temperatures low and stable and is important for maintaining climatic stability throughout the year.
Future
Gonzalo believes that the sustainabilitiy of this type of coffee farming is immense, as there is no genetically uniform population like there is in a mono-varietal plantation. These traditional farms are more susceptible to pests and diseases and lack the biodiversity of a 'multi' farm.
Elevation
Coffea Diversa sits at 1500-2050 masl in Jutiapa, Volcan de Suchitan on black volcanic soils.
Variety
Cioiccie is a wild Ethiopian variety found near the village of Jimma in southwestern Ethiopia. It is a tall, slender tree and it's branches are widely spaced along the main stem, with widely spaced nodes along the branches. The yield is very low, while the cup quality is very high.
Process
This lot is labeled as an 'anaerobic honey'. The cherrys are placed in closed barrels to soften the fruit before pulping and laid to dry on raised beds.
Genetics
"We have multiple botanical variants growing in the same ‘terroir’ and microclimate. So the climatic variable is fixed, and one can assess solely the genetic expression of each variety."
Cupping through Coffea Diversa's catalogue is truly a coffee enthusiasts golden ticket. It is life-changing. Coffee, like any industry, has trends. The most recent was the 'fermentation' or processing trend, the next, or current, is certainly that of varieties and the exploration of coffee plant genetics. You then realise Gonzalo began Coffea Diversa in 2003, and that the rest of us are just late to the party. In fact the industry as a whole is still catching up, World Coffee Research lists only 53 coffee varieties in their 'Varieties Catalogue'...
Coffea Diversa
“The name Coffea Diversa is latin for 'diversity of coffee'.”
The name seems fitting. The variety garden in Biolley, Costa Rica, currently holds 850 coffee varieties, all with 10 plants of each. Gonzalo selects the most unique and interesting coffees to grow in small plots as 'production'. Gonzalo now has coffee gardens in both Guatemala and the Jamaican blue mountains, to expand production and assess how these varieties grow in different terroirs. They also need the land: some of these varieties are so incredibly low-yielding that expansion was necessary. Take Kapataka for example, Gonzalo has 750 plants of this rare species, it yielded 4 pounds of coffee...
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