Finca Deborah | Interstellar

Interstellar starts with harvesting perfectly ripe Geisha cherries reading 21-24 on BRIX meter. The cherries are carefully selected for a second time before depositing them inside hermetically sealed tanks with a yeast inoculation strain added. The cherries marinade in this yeast bath for more than 100 hours, allowing the yeast to consume a large portion of the fruit within the cherries. Also during this time the coffee grains are absorbing the high fruit notes and floral aromatics. The purpose of adding this yeast strain is to enhance aromatics, elevate acidity, and induce more body in the cup.

After the cherries spend their extended time inside the sealed tanks, the coffees are removed and placed on a three-tiered, raised African bed system designed by Jamison. Temperatures, heat, humidity, and airflow are carefully controlled inside the dry houses and maintained within certain parameters to avoid damage. The coffee is consistently agitated throughout the day to allow consistent drying within the grain and to prevent any possibility of a mold bloom.

After approximately 20 days in dry-house the coffee and it has been dried to approximately 11%; it is bagged in grain-pro and stored in a bodega, where temperatures are cool and stable. This reposo or seasoning process is critical to Deborah’s quality control and provides the coffee an opportunity to stabilize and equalize its moisture content. Another benefit for the coffee is the absorption of more flavor from it’s shell or parchment. The coffee is then hulled, and sorted by size, density, and color.