Every cherry on the farm is hand-picked and then sorted by hand before being approved by the foreman for delivery to the wet mill. The farm also hires ‘special pickers’ who have demonstrated particular dexterity and are selected to hand harvest some of the farms’ microlots using impressive attention to detail. These employees can receive more than double the minimum daily wage through picking coffee at the farm. According to Ricardo, although they are demanding picking practices, people come back year upon year, which is a testament to the fair treatment they receive.

As soon as the cherries arrive at the wet mill, they are sorted and floated to remove lower quality cherries. They are then pulped via machine and fermented in a tank of water for 12-14 hours to breakdown the exterior mucilage. Once the fermentation step is complete, the coffee is rushed through canals to remove any remaining mucilage or foreign matter before being evenly dispersed on patios or in greenhouses to dry in the sun for 12-25 days. As soon as the ideal moisture content is reached, the coffee is hulled and prepared for export.

For washed coffees, the process requires a heft amount of water. Santa Clara is careful with their scarce water resources, as Antigua experiences an extended dry season and water reserves are increasingly threatened by population growth and urbanization. Water that is used to wash fermented coffee is recycled after having all solids removed and is reused during the de-pulping stage for the following lot to be processed. This has the added benefit of inoculating the next batch as it is pulped, which speeds fermentation times and helps maintain consistent mix of yeasts and bacteria during fermentation. After being used twice in this way, the water is filtered through a complex treatment system of filters and sedimentation tanks, with all solids being recycled and composted as fertilizer.

We are happy to again work with Ricardo and the Zelaya family, and their crop of Villa Sarchi varietal this 2025; featuring it as a 'The Colonial Reserve' tasty single origin filter brew. Hurry as we don't see this coffee being available past quarter two of 2025!