Wilton Benitez - Pink Bourbon

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MEET THE PRODUCER | Wilton Benitez has over twenty-six years of experience as a coffee producer, the majority of which have been spent focusing solely on specialty coffee. However, "coffee grower" isn't exactly what Wilton thought he wanted to be when he grew up. He spent his collegiate years studying engineering and subsequently spent many years working as a trained chemical engineer before making the (huge) career leap over to coffee.

Wilton eventually opted to redirect his scientific expertise toward his lifelong passion for cultivating coffee, and nowadays he's the owner of an innovative coffee company in the Cauca region of Colombia called Granja Paraíso 92. Both the company and Wilton himself are renowned for growing unique coffee varietals and for pioneering new methods of coffee processing in the region. The farm has pioneered advanced and innovative systems which were previously unknown in Cauca and also features its very own processing plant, microbiology lab, and quality control lab.

Chemical-engineer-turned-coffee-pioneer may not have been a part of young Wilton's plan all those years ago, but processing triumphs like this one are a delicious testament to his success in the endeavor.

TRUST THE PROCESS | After being handpicked at peak ripeness, the coffee cherries are sorted for quality by both size and density. They then undergo two rounds of sterilization, first with ozonated water, and second with ultraviolet light. The coffee cherries then undergo two rounds of fermentation: first, for 52 hours of anaerobic fermentation in cherry at a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius, during which time yeast is added to the mixture. While this initial round of fermentation is underway, the mucilage is recovered so that it can be added back to the fermentation environment in the next round. The cherries are then pulped before heading into round two: anaerobic fermentation in mucilage for 48 hours, at a slightly warmer temperature of 21 degrees Celsius. After this, they are washed using a thermal shock method: first, with water at 40 degrees Celsius, and second, with water at a chilly 12 degrees Celsius. Finally (finally!), the cherries are dried for 36 hours at a variable temperature (40 degrees Celsius for the first 12 hours, and 35 degrees Celsius for the following twenty-four.

TAKE A SIP | We've featured this coffee on our menu a few times now - it's sort of Wilton's flagship high fermentation thermal shock experiment - and this is perhaps the most balanced iteration that we've ever tasted. Plenty of tropical fruits (passion fruit, lychee, pineapple, tamarind) are present in the cup. Vibrant acidity and ample sweetness mingle together to give us something like lemon candy. There's less funk here than in previous lots, but the funk that does show up to this year's party is a welcome addition, reminding us of galaxy hops.

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Origin | Piendamó, Cauca, Colombia

Producer | Wilton Benitez

Farm | Granja Paraíso 92

Process | Thermal Shock

Variety | Pink Bourbon 

Elevation | 1950 masl