Costa Rica - Diego Robelo - Mariana Thermal Shock

This microlot of the innovative Mariana F1 Hybrid underwent an experimental process named Thermal Shock. This combination of plant genetics and fermentation science is a testament to the dedication of the team at Aquiares to advance coffee in every field possible.

Currently Aquiares is one of the few farms in the world to produce the Mariana F1 Hybrid. The plant was initially developed at a research lab in Nicaragua by manually pollinating coffee flowers of the Iapar 59 (itself an introgressed Sarchimor hybrid) and a male sterile Ethiopian landrace variety. This cross combines the resistant and productive characteristics of the Iapar59 with the excellent quality potential of the Ethiopian landrace variety. This technique has been used to create other popular F1 hybrids such as Centroamericano and Esperanza. Mariana, however has an additional layer of uniqueness. It is the only F1 hybrid in the world that can be propogated by seed. Normally such a cross results in the offspring being sterile as happens with for example, mules as well. The combined genetics are so introgressed that further procreation is genetically impossible. With Mariana, this is not the case as one of the parent plants is already male sterile. The exact science of this goes well beyond the scope of a coffee product page, but the implication for the coffee farming community is huge as this may make excellent varieties available at a fraction of the cost they used to be. We are proud that Aquiares is an active participant in the development of this plant through their partnership with World Coffee Research. 

The processing that was selected for this lot is the Thermal Shock process. The name thermal shocks stems from the intensity of the temperature during the fermentation process. The freshly harvested cherries are cleaned with spring water to remove any impurities and then rolled up in a plastic sheet to stimulate the fermentation which causes temperatures of up to 65 degrees celsius. In the controlled environment of the greenhouse this process lasts 72 hours after which the coffee is taken out of the rolled up plastic and dried on raised beds inside the green house for 15 days. Once drying is completed the coffee is rested for three months before export. 

For this coffee we took an unique approach in roasting. The high amount of fermentation degrades the cell structure which makes it more susceptible to heat. We applied the heat soak method in which no gas is applied in the initial phase of roasting. Afterwards the gas is quickly increased to get the roast started but also quickly reduced again to maintain a slow development. The total roast time was 16 minutes to a temperature of 199 degrees celsius.

We recommend brewing this coffee as filter exclusively. It is likely to present sweet flavours of rum & raisins ice cream and cacao nibs with a strong acidity that manifests with notes of cherry, amaretto and ginger. It's an incredibly complex and layered cup with a juicy body.