Philippine Nano Lot Series, Lot 1019

Flavor Notes: Lemon Verbena, Cocoa Powder, Date
Process: LAL Café Yeast

Our 4th year of very special and experimental “nano-lots” with our partners in the Philippines, this uniquely processed coffee stems from Sitio Belis in the Benguet mountain region. This particular coffee has yeast added to the anaerobic (in full cherry) fermentation to further manipulate the environment. Lot 1019 is a LAL Café Yeast fermented lot, comprised of varieties: typica, bourbon, san ramon.

Yeast is one of the primary drivers of fermentation. It causes sugars to break down and creates an environment for the production of metabolites like organic acids, alcohols, esters, aldehydes and ketones, which impact the coffee’s final quality. These metabolites are then transformed during roasting into flavors we can smell and taste. While fermentation can be tricky to track and replicate, through this experiment, we learned that deliberately introducing (or inoculating) yeast during post-harvest helps producers control fermentation, making production more efficient and even helps predict cup quality. starts with a subtle yet juicy first sip, along the lines of star fruit which brings gentle, almost floral notes. Sweetness of red velvet accompanies cashew butter creaminess for a delicately full and smooth cup.

Sitio Belis sits atop a mountain range in Benguet, Philippines with an elevation of 1400 – 1700 MASL. It is blessed with natural springs that flow all-year round and is home to vegetable and coffee growers. This community has been cultivating coffee since the end of WWII and while sayote is their primary crop, they expanded their backyard coffee plantation when buyers came looking for supply. The individual farmers of the Ibaloi tribe have been processing their coffees in different ways, with practices that were either passed on from their forefathers or from farmers who have joined trainings outside the community. There were no set standards and quality had been inconsistent.

With the creation of the community washing station, farmers and their children were trained together. In addition, those who have less trees were given the opportunity to earn more by working in the processing while those who had more trees were given financial aid to hire pickers so they could harvest more.

Farmers bring fresh picked cherries to the mill every day and are immediately processed as honey or washed coffees. The honey processed coffees are pulped and dry-fermented for 24- 48 hours before they are placed on raised drying beds. Washed coffees go through wet fermentation for 36-48 hrs. They are washed multiple times in order to completely remove the mucilage and are then left to dry on raised drying beds. This year, with typhoons and monsoon rains during harvest, more time was required for drying. Most coffees took 4-6 weeks to dry. The coffees are then kept in grainpro bags and rest for 4-6 weeks before they’re hulled and hand sorted.

From 15 original farmers when Kalsada first started working in the region, there are now over 100 farmers who contribute coffee to the Sitio Belis mill! These farmers are also given financial aid to hire pickers during the months of October to late January so they can harvest more, while those with fewer trees are given the opportunity to earn more by processing cherries in our central mill. In 2023, Sitio Belis was able to produce 7.2 tons of specialty coffee. Sito Belis grows five varieties of coffee that are processed through either washed, honey, natural, or experimental methods.