Proccesing Methods

Lactic

This kind of fermentation is classified as ‘Anaerobic’ as oxygen has minimal interaction with the cherry. Once the cherries arrive at the mill, they are hand sorted and placed in sealed tanks. With no oxygen involved, bacteria feed on carbohydrates present in the mucilage favoring a higher concentration of Lactic Acid, creating a unique profile of the resulting cup.

Honey

The Honey Process begins with a pre-fermentation stage of 45 hours at the wet mill. From here the cherries will start the de-pulping stage, passing through three stages of quality control before removing a percentage of the skin. While the drying stage, coffee will be placed in African-style raised beds for over 15 days. Due to the levels of sugar and moisture, the first days will be crucial to avoid microbial activity prolongation. Finally parchment coffee will pass through the mechanical drying machines to end up the drying process.

Mixed

This method involves a combination of stages found in lactic and acetic processing methods. First, all hand-sorted cherries will go through a short pre-fermentation step. Similar to lactic processing, the cherries are placed in airtight fermentation tanks with limited oxygen. Once removed from the tanks, we pass them through three levels of quality control before having the skin removed by a pulper machine. From there, we leave the beans resting in the fermentation tanks to undergo an acetic fermentation, agitating them from time to time. Once the process is completed, the beans are transferred to African-style raised beds to begin the drying phase.

Our Mixed Fermentation Processing produces a very balanced cup profile with medium to heavy body.

Bio-Innovation

Through the Bioinnovation process, La Palma & El Tucán honors the main principles of organic farming. The first capture and reproduce microorganisms found in their farm’s beautiful forests, to create their own fermentation substrate. Then, they mix this substrate with perfectly ripen geisha cherries, in a clay pot for 100 hours. This combination allows them to create a sustainable closed cycle. After the fermentation, they remove the leftovers and reuse them as compost.

Acetic

This process doesn’t involve a pre-fermentation stage. However as the bean is allowed to interact with oxygen after being de-pulped, it’s classified as anaerobic fermentation. The process starts at the de-pulping stage, where the husk is completely removed from the cherry and taken to the fermentation tanks. Here, the bean will rest for an average of at least 30 hours. Unlike a ‘Washed’ coffee, the bean won’t be submerged in water in the fermentation tanks.

While in the fermentation tanks, stirring and spinning regularly the beans, permits oxygen to interact with the bean’s surface evenly. This contact between oxygen and the bean helps to encourage the growth of microorganisms which produce a higher concentration of acetic acid. After a minimum of 36 hours, the beans will be washed in the channels and placed on African raised beds to undergo the drying stage of processing.