Cuba

Sierra Maestra

Cocoa, tobacco, walnuts

Sweet and attractive with intense  hints of cocoa that fuse together with aromas of pipe tobacco; soft acidity, long-lasting aftertaste with  notes of walnut

QUALITY SCORE:
COFFEE DATA

Quality score:

Varietal:

Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, Catimor

Processing:

Washed

Region:

Sierra Maestra

Harvest:

July – December

Altitude:

800 – 1000 m

Farm:

Governative plantations

Producer:

Governative plantations

RECOMMENDED RECIPE

Based on the roasting style of our roasters Andrea and Fabrizio, we suggest two recipes, for espresso and for filter (V60), which you can use as a starting point to emphasise the flavours of this specific batch. You can also enjoy this coffee with other extraction methods, using our suggestions as a starting point to obtain your preferred sensory nuances, to be adjusted according to the grinding level, the water characteristics and the equipment used.

coffee dose:

  • 8 g (single shot)
  • 16 g (double shot

brewing formula:

50%

cup dose:

  • 16 g (single shot)
  • 32 g (double shot)

extraction time:

23″-27″

temperature:

92,5° C

pump pressure:

9 bar

coffee dose:

15 g

brewing ratio:

1 / 16

dose/water:

240 g

temperature:

92,5° C

THE MANUFACTURER

Government plantations

While part of the cultivation and processing of coffee in Cuba is in private hands, the sale of coffee is entirely handled by the state-owned company Cubaexport, which is responsible for the export of most Cuban products, including coffee.

Founded in 1964, the company plays an important role in the Cuban economy, acting as an intermediary to facilitate trade between the country’s companies and international markets. Cubaexport also contributes to increasing consumer awareness of the country’s products and promoting their sale around the world.

THE NATION

Cuba

Coffee cultivation in Cuba began in 1748 thanks to José Antonio Gelabert, who sowed the first coffee plants near Havana using seeds imported from Santo Domingo. Later in 1791, as French colonists fled from revolutionary Haiti, coffee production moved to the fertile heights of the Sierra Maestra mountain range in the south-east of the country. The French settlers introduced new coffee processing techniques, contributing to the expansion of cultivated land; coffee is now also grown in other areas of the island such as Rosario y de Los Organos, Escambray and Sagua Baracoa.

In 2000, Cuba received an important recognition from UNESCO, which awarded the title of World Heritage Site to the archaeological landscape of the country’s first coffee plantations. The Cuban plantations, in which both Arabica and Robusta varieties are cultivated, are located at altitudes around 1,200 m above sea level and occupy an area of about 30,000 hectares; the harvest period runs from September to January. Among the most widespread Arabica varieties are Typica, Bourbon and Caturra, which are classified according to quality as Crystal Mountain, Extraturquino, Turquino, Altura, Montana, Cumbre, Serrano superior, Serrano corriente and Caracolillo.

THE REGION

Sierra Maestra

Sierra Maestra region, renowned for its production of high quality coffee, has a humid subtropical climate that is ideal for coffee cultivation, with average seasonal temperatures between 20 and 25ºC and abundant seasonal rainfall that maintains soil moisture and favours coffee growth. Thanks to ideal climatic conditions and traditional farming practices, Sierra Maestra coffees are rated as the best in Cuba, appreciated worldwide for their rich and distinctive aromas. Plantations in the region are often located on hilly, terraced slopes, which facilitate optimal rainwater drainage. Harvesting takes place mainly between October and January, when the beans reach the right ripeness and the local farmers pick them by hand using the picking method, i.e. by picking only the ripe drupes, which they then process using natural methods to produce their noble coffees.

CULTIVAR

Bourbon

In the early 1700s, French missionaries introduced the Typica cultivar from Yemen to the island of Bourbon (present-day La Réunion); the spontaneous mutations that occurred in contact with the new soil caused the plants to flower and fruit more productively, facilitating its spread to Brazil and Cuba, other Central and South American countries and the African continent. Bourbon is a cultivar of high quality and extreme sweetness, the most famous of the varietal descendants of Typica.

Catimor

Catimor is the cultivar created at the CIFC in Portugal around the 1960s, derived from the genetic combination of the varietal Caturra and Timor Hybrid; in the 1980s Catimor was introduced in Angola and Brazil, later spreading to many other countries including Cuba. Highly productive, it has an innate resistance to diseases such as coffee rust.

Caturra

Discovered in Brazil between 1915 and 1918, the Caturra cultivar is a natural mutation of Bourbon, known to be one of the main genetic components of Catimor, the cross between Caturra and Timor Hybrid; the cultivar became common in Central America until the early 1940s, with its introduction in Guatemala and later Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama; for decades, it was one of the most economically important coffees in Central America, to the point of often being used as the main cultivar in several countries.

Typica

Typica is one of the original indigenous varieties of Ethiopia that originated the expansion of coffee around the world; in 1100 the variety was introduced to Yemen then, around 1700, to India. In 1706 a single plant of Typica was brought from Java to Amsterdam and housed in the Botanical Garden; from there a plant was shared with France in 1714. In 1719 from the Netherlands, Typica was sent on the colonial trade routes to Dutch Guiana, from there to Martinique in 1723, to Jamaica in 1730, to Santo Domingo in 1735 and to Cuba in 1748. Because Typica has a low yield and is highly susceptible to major coffee diseases, it was gradually replaced in most of the Americas, but is still widely cultivated in Peru, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, where it is called Jamaica Blue Mountain

THE PRODUCTION PROCESS

Coffee cherry harvesting

The coffee cherries are harvested by hand to ensure the fruit is perfectly ripe and delivered to the washing station for processing on the same day.

Peel and pulp removal

The first processing step consists of mechanically removing the skin and pulp of the fruit in order to separate the green coffee beans, which are then fermented in water. The processing waste, peel and pulp, will be used as natural compost for plant nutrition.

Fermentation in water

The coffee beans are immersed in water in fermentation tanks, where they will remain for a period of 12 to 24 hours depending on the climate outside. After fermentation, the coffee beans are passed through special rinsing channels where the remaining mucilage will be removed.

Drying

The coffee beans are now placed on raised beds (African bed) and dried in the sun for a period of 3 to 4 weeks. This slow procedure results in homogenous beans with a final moisture content of between 10% and 12%.

Packaging and humidity reduction

After drying, the coffees will be packed in jute sacks and stored in the warehouse for about 1 month; this process helps to further standardise the moisture percentage, thus avoiding the risk of mould formation during sea transport.

Decortication

Once the right degree of moisture has been reached, the parchment is removed from the coffee bean through a roller machine. Afterwards, the coffee is finally placed in jute bags and made ready for shipment.

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