When you hear the name Wilton Benitez you know you’re in for a crazy sensory coffee experience. This is our 4th year with coffees from Wilton and his farm group Granja Paraiso 92. We met Wilton at the recent World of Coffee in Brussels firstly at an event organised by our friends at Velvet Coffee, and then when he came to visit our stand at the expo. He mentioned that the avenue for obtaining his coffees in Europe (incl UK) had changed recently and now he had established an import business based in Barcelona. I immediately got in touch and booked this super fruity number.

This Thermal Shock Anaerobic Geisha is labelled P-06, which is the recipe applied to this particular coffee which comes from Finca La Macarena. Wilton approaches his processing like a scientist. He has developed specific fermentation recipes for each of his coffees that vary in certain key metrics as well as the type of yeasts added to control fermentation flavour pathways.

Wilton has his own microbiology laboratory, quality laboratory and processing plant. The processes applied to the different coffees start from a strict selection, sterilisation and characterization of the cherry before pulping. It's then ready to start the first phase of controlled anaerobic fermentation, adding a specific microorganism for each process (Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus in this instance), then subjected to a second fermentation phase measuring pH and Brix (TDS). When the second phase ends, a bean sealing process is carried out through impacts of hot and cold water (aka thermal shock) to improve the organoleptic conditions of the coffee.

Wilton believes there are three main factors that provide his coffee with a unique and exquisite taste: the fermentation process, the microorganisms used at each stage, and the method of soaking the beans in hot and then cold water to seal the grain. Below is the Tastify cupping report with sensory attributes for this coffee from the Granja Paraiso 92 team.

Roast Approach

We initially roasted this new coffee with two different approaches. Firstly, fast and light (for us) which is super clean and bright and definitely more suited to filter brewing styles and requiring at least three weeks resting after roast date. The second approach was our normal 'omni' style which is longer (1'20") and slightly hotter end temp (1deg C) and results in more body and sweetness and a more rounded cup which can be brewed equally as well on filter and espresso (if you like a fruit forward high acidity espresso). Since both have already received great feedback from our most recent public cupping we're going to take the unprecedented step of keeping both. ie a filter specific profile and our 'omni' profile. Both are available separately in our normal 150g tins and 250g and but you can also buy a 2 x 125g bag sample pack with one pack of each roast profile. Great to do a little side by side and see what the influence of roast profile has on a high quality high intervention coffee from one of the most well respected producers from Colombia.