La Mandarina (Organic) / Natural / Peru 250g

Origin: Peru

Producer: Yonal Fernandez

Region: Colasay

Varieties: Bourbon

Process: Natural

Altitude: 1750 masl

Flavour Profile: Orange marmalade, Wild strawberry & White tea

Yonal Fernandez is a small-scale coffee farmer who works alongside his parents, siblings, and cousins to produce coffee. His farm is located in the Colasay district of Jaen, Peru, at an elevation of over 1750 meters. 

Although the farm is family-run, during the harvest season, they enlist the help of pickers to assist with the harvest. This additional help is necessary to ensure that the coffee cherries are picked at the right time of ripeness for optimal results, as it requires more hands than just the family members can provide.

During the harvest season, the cherries are hand-picked early in the morning and immediately floated in water. Overripe or defective cherries, being less dense and lighter, float to the surface of the water. At this stage, any lower-quality cherries are removed.

The following morning, the producer uses a mechanical depulper to remove the skin and fruit flesh from the parchment. Subsequently, the mucilage is broken down and removed through a fermentation process that takes about 24 hours, using bags or small tanks.

The Fernandez family also operates their beneficio (processing facility) within the farm premises, using small depulpers, wooden tanks, or concrete fermentation tanks for their processing.