The primary developmental goal of the 2011-2012 season is to develop a source of very clean water.  Numerous natural springs bubble up from high points of the farm that produces very clean and clear water that is drinkable.  But we must secure the source of this natural spring water so contaminants such as dirt, rain run-off doesn’t contaminate this water.  From the experiments of the past, contaminants and taints in  the water used to process the coffee can affect the flavor and cup of the coffee.  Therefore producing a very clean source of water is the goal of this year.  Not only clean water for processing the coffee, but also for people to drink thereby eliminating waterborne diseases that are common among people who live in the countryside. 

We will also experiment with adding various different types of yeasts with the enzyme process that we currently use to “wash” the coffee.  These yeasts are normally used to produce wine, but we will experiment with 5 different yeasts to see how they change the taste of the coffee.  The water that the coffee parchment sits in overnight include sugars and nutrients.   Yeasts will be added overnight to see how they affect the juice solution.   In my experiments with these yeasts from the company call Lalvin, 1116, k1 1118, D-27, D-47 and RC2-212,  each yeasts creates a different fragrance and taste  when the same grape juice was used.   We will use this knowledge and see if a particular yeast will create a beneficial fragrance and cup profile with the coffee.

This will be the 5th year now for many of the new coffee planted 5 years ago.  Fertilizer is now a combination of Urea (46-0) and a fertilizer with NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium) and calcium, sulfur an magnesium which are the 6 most important nutrients for coffee.  Each mature plant gets 3-4 ounzes or 120 grams per year divided in two applications, once in February, March and again in September.