Monthly MAME
for coffee lovers
Monthly MAME is created with the simple wish to share very, very special coffees with you and other coffee lovers all over the world. Whether you would like to brew with your favourite recipes or follow Emi’s recipes, it is about celebrating tasty coffees together every month.
Here you can see the record of Monthly MAMEs starting in June 2020:
MONTHLY MAME 47 - April '24
The coffee for 47 was lot 66 from Finca Hartmann, Chiriqui, Panama (up to 2000masl)
The producer Ratibor Hartmann has been our dear partner to us for a few years now, including his and his families’ farms.
The variety is Gesha, very delicate, and washed processed - simple yet most classic and beautiful sweetness all the way from hot, warm and cold.
The coffee offers orange, sweet lemon, jasmine and smooth mouthfeel!
MONTHLY MAME 46 - March '24
The coffee for 46 was Daterra Masterpieces auction lot 2018 Laurina (1200masl), Cerrado, Minas Gerais Brazil. The lot was named after Emi’s winning the World Brewers Cup 2018!
The coffee was semi-carbonic macerated in a stainless tank for 48 hours, then dried on African beds for 20 days and finished up in a mechanical dryer.
This processing method crafted flavours of grapes, orange and apple when brewed!
MONTHLY MAME 45 - February '24
The coffee for 45 was from El Burro, Lamastus Estate (1800 masl) owned by Don Wilford Lamastus. The lot was Gesha, fermented for 4 days in blue tanks anaerobically and dreid slowly (ASD) for 20-30 days. The family is dedicated and innovative, they apply fermentation tanks depending on flavour profiles they desire - blue tank gives more boozy notes, stainless tank 'bioreactor’ giving crisp notes - this coffee offers notes of blueberry, caramel, whisky!
MONTHLY MAME 44 - January '24
The coffee for 44 was from Santamaria Estate (2000 masl), located in Paso Ancho, Volcan, Pamana. The variety was Caturra, which we cupped at the farm loved for the notes of rosehip! The family Santamaria has been selling their cherries to their award winning partners till they thought, they should try processing on their own. They have amazing Gesha too, this lot Caturra was offering super round mouthfeel being long lasting, thank you to their natural process.
In the cup you had flavours of rose hip, cotton candy, coconuts and lychee aftertaste.
MONTHLY MAME 43 - December '23
The coffee for 43 was from Janson (1350 masl), Volcan, Panama. This particular lot is Green Tip Gesha from Los Alpes, washed processed. The cup offers a stunning clarity and flavours of Jasmine tea, Darjeeling tea, mandarine.
MONTHLY MAME 42 - November '23
The coffee for 42 was from Milcumbres (1600-2000 masl), located in Cordillera, close to Volcan, Chiriqui, Panama. We had his Sidra back in Monthly MAME 35, this time his Pacamara. The producer Mario Fonseca, who is a coffee passionate lawyer, chooses varieties to plant, which are both tasty and productive. His Pacamara is even with his emotional touch, him being half El Savadorian, he loves Pacamara as its origin. His farm Milcumbres is always cloudly with the temperatures of 18-21 degrees, which allows him to let the coffees mature extra slow. The pacamara was sorted after being floated in water, then placed in carbonic maceration for 48 hours. Then dried for 32 days (slow dry!)
In the cup it had a beautiful buttery mouthfeel with notes of melted caramel, papaya and green plum.
MONTHLY MAME 41 - October '23
The coffee for 41 was from Jardines del Eden (1900masl), which is in Pijao, Colombia. The producers, being brothers Felipe and Carlos Arcila, found their specialty coffee love in Australia during their studies. They are the 4th generation of the farm and founded Cofinet to spread their beautiful productions to the world. This month it was their Sidra, which is the hybrid of Typica and red bourbon. The brothers managed to keep the goodness of both varieties in the variety Sidra, being productive and tasty (sweet!), and processed the coffee as aerobic & anaerobic natural - 24 hours with open tank, then 22 degreed bags for 50 hours anaerobically. The dried down to 11% on raised beds. The notes were strawberry, red plum, cranberry in creamy mouthfeel when warm, and turning into juicy when cooled.
MONTHLY MAME 40 - September '23
The coffee for 40 was the Green tip Gesha from finca Deborah (1950masl), Boquete, Chiriqi, Panama. The producer Jamison Savage is really innovative and forward thinking in terms of processings at the farm. For this lot he named it as Parabolic, which was done with carefully sorted and ripe Gesha cherries. They were placed in the sealed stainless steel tanks for 100 hours in a controlled anaerobic environment. Then the cherries were depulped and dried on Jamison’s special African beds for 20 days. During this slow drying time Jamison carefully waits till the moisture content goes down to 11% to preserve all the yummy flavours.
This time Emi and Mathieu met Jamison again at SCAJ in Tokyo and brewed the coffee together - enjoyed the notes of dark cherry, strawberry jam, whisky and cacao nib!
MONTHLY MAME 39 - August '23
The coffee for 39 was from the farm Bonita Springs (1300masl) located in Alto Lino, Boquete, Pamana. The monthly MAME 25 was also from here, when we could do the live session with the farm manager Yessie Hartmann. This time we could have a chat with the owners, two brothers Arturo and Olmedo Miró. The farm is almost 100 years old, but 7 years ago they shifted into Speciality Coffee. The Bonita Springs is surrounded by beautiful rivers, streams, springs, hence the name. This month we had their Caturra and Catuai varieties, natural processed. The cherries were on African beds for 1-2 months, till the humidity drops down to 11%. To match the summery days, we brewed it over ice, which gives notes of red grape juice, strawberry jam and hibiscus tea!
MONTHLY MAME 38 - July '23
The coffee for 38 was Caturra variety from La Riviera, UBA Coffee, which is in Risaralda, Colombia (1750masl). This coffee was perhaps one of the most exotic ones in our collection. Not only the flavours were just dynamic, but also the whole complex process of picking, fermenting (Culturing) and drying is designed to have the end result in the cup. We also sourced the coffee for WBC runner up 2023 Daniele Ricci from this farm, differently cultured.
For this month, we could chat with Andres Quiceno, who is the culturing master at the farm and runs the farm together with the owner Julio Cesar Madrid for 12 years. Andres started experimenting with culturing, which is done with certain groups of bacterias and yeasts. He selects picked cherries and monitors and creates the perfect conditions for these micro-organisms to work on cherries in tanks. Every group of micro-organismums works differently and can be combined to work together (or against each other), which is the key thing for Andres to master.
This month’s Caturra is named as ‘april’ to identify, cultured with groups combined with T and R (he has many, many combinations), dried under UV light to stop the fermentation fully.
The complex journey results in super full mouthfeel with notes of orange candy, rhubarb jams, strawberry and black tea and citrus aftertaste.
MONTHLY MAME 37 - June '23
The coffee for 37 is the variety Sudan Rume from Las Margaritas (1570-1850 masl), in Caicedonia, Colombia. This is one of farms which are managed by Cafe Granja La Esperanza, with the producer Rigoberto Herrera. He is one of the most respected and innovative coffee producers in Colombia at the moment - this particular lot was processed as hybrid washed: The first fermentation was done in cherries for a day, then second fermentation in only parchment for 1.5 days. Then fully washed and finally dried mechanically, so that the final humidity in beans comes down to 10.5% (lower side)
This whole process enables the cup to give unique spicy notes like nutmeg or molasses, followed by candied ginger, sugar cane syrup with lime aftertaste as flavours.
MONTHLY MAME 36 - May '23
The coffee for 36 was from Bolivia for the first time, and it’s our auction lot from agricafe, Rodriguez family - it was from the farm Floripondio (1700-1800 masl) which is in the southern part of their farms, Samaipata. In fact the area has the good climate to grow wine grapes, being dry and warm during the day and humid and cold at night. It was an intentional blend of Java and Gesha, Java being sweet and fuller bodied and Gesha being floral and complex. The Rodriguez family then applied Malolactic Salvaje fermentation - not added yeast, but the bacteria from coffee most exchanges malic acids in coffee into lactic acids. This makes the mouthfeel of the coffee buttery and gains more body.
Then cherries are dried as natural, giving a sweet boozy mouthfeel. The notes are like blackberry, violet flowers, dried dates and tree tomatoes!
MONTHLY MAME 35 - April '23
The coffee for 35 was the variety Sidra, considered mostly as the hybrid of Bourbon and Ethiopian varieties. The farm is Milcumbres (1600-2000 masl), located in Cordillera, close to Volcan, Chiriqui, Panama. The producer Mario Fonseca normally works as lawyer, but has a big passion for coffee and works very closely with Ratibor Hartmann when it comes to coffee farming. This lot of Sidra is natural with two steps. Firstly they were aerobically placed with layers for 12 days, creating fermentations to the maximum within. Secondly spread to have each cherry on African beds to finish up the drying process. That 2-step drying has created rich flavours like strawberry jam, banana and dark chocolate in the cup.
MONTHLY MAME 34 - March '23
The coffee for 34 was the variety Yemenia, from the farm Hayma Dakhiliya, Sana’a region, Yemen (around 2000masl) . The very first Yemeni coffee we at MAME ever owned, it was served by the German Barista Champion 2021 Aylin Aslan on stage.
The coffee was processed on 5 steps named Alchemy process : first aerobic fermentation for 12 hours, then carbonic maceration for 48 hours, dried in a controlled, dark room for 5 days, slow drying for 28 days (!!) and then finally depulped. This is all to highlight the viscosity of this beautiful coffee, gaining bold flavours and big sweetness.
Yemenia being tropical and floral alone, with this process it gets notes like dried dates, star anis and whisky in the round, full body.
MONTHLY MAME 33 - February '23
The coffee for 33 was Gesha variety from Abu Coffee, which is located in the Canas Verdes region, Boquete (1550masl). This area is quite humid, due to the rainy, tropical microclimate (9 months of rainy days!) The producer José Luttrell, who works as an engineer, had a big dream thinking of his grandfather, who wanted to accomplish high quality coffee grown at his farm. That’s why Jose named his farm Abu, a short form of Abuelo, grandfather in Spanish. The lot for this month was anaerobic washed processed - carefully sorted cherries are placed in a tank with mosto (juice from other cherries) for 48 hours, in order to maximise the sweetness. Then depulped and sealed for another 48 hours, finally washed and dried slowly for 15 - 20 days on African beds. That slow drying after 48+48 hours is the key to keep it sweet and clean. The cup was very silky, with notes of apricots, almonds, caramel and orange.
MONTHLY MAME 32 - January '23
The coffee for 32 was Mandela, which is a hybrid of the Colombian Caturra and the Ethiopian Heirloom made by Cafe Granja la Esperanza, Cauca, Colombia (1500-1700masl). The hybrid was created for both great resistance against climate change and great productivity, also achieving excellent cup quality. This lot was natural processed after manually picked. Then 36 hour fermentation in cherries was applied in the controlled temperature room.
The cup was bold with flavours of concord grape, black berries and cantaloupe - very sweet and big mouthfeel.
MONTHLY MAME 31 - December '22
The coffee for 31 was from the farm Daterra (1200masl), Cerrado, Minas Gerais Brazil, the variety Laurina, one of the 2022 Auction lots called lot 6 Oscar. This year the Auction lots were named after famous Brazilian artists who stood up for their authentic styles back in the 70s.
The Laurina variety, which contains half caffeine compared with standard Arabica (hence less bitterness in the cup in general!) This is the variety Emi presented in Belo Horizonte and became the World Brewers Cup Champion 2018.
This lot 6 Oscar was done as aerobic at the start and then gradually and naturally anaerobic in the stainless tanks, as the oxygen gets pushed out through one-way pipes. Parts of cherries inside the tank are in juices (and naturally crushed with the weight of other cherries) giving winey notes to the final cup, the other parts of cherries inside the tank not being in juices (and staying round and not crushed as they are rather on the top layers) giving red and tropical fruits notes to the final cup. After 62 hours of such fermentations, cherries are dried for 15 days on raised beds outside and dried mechanically to be homogenised at the end.
In the cup you have fruits layers of grape, orange and apple in caramel sweetness.
MONTHLY MAME 30 - November '22
The coffee for 30 was from Elida Estate (1700 - 2500masl), Panama. The one and only producer Wilford Lamastus is a very passionate, innovative and warm hearted person in the coffee world. The Lamastus Family has been producing coffee in Elida Estate for four generations since 1918. Elida Estate coffees are produced under a unique world-ecological condition: it is shade-grown, bird-friendly, the farm is located at a very high elevation, in a microclimate with very low temperatures, the coffee trees are surrounded by the Volcan Baru National Park -a virgin native cloudy rain forest. This particular lot is natural processed, giving the signature of Lamastus being strawberry as one of the flavours. In the cup you had coffee blossom, fresh strawberries and raspberries.
MONTHLY MAME 29 - October '22
The coffee for 29 was from Corazon de Jesus (1950masl), Costa Rica. The producer Jhonny Alvaro is the second generation of the farm, pushing the specialty coffee scene.
This month is with the variety Milenio, which is a hybrid of Sudan Rume and Sarchimor (which is a hybrid of Timor and Villa Sarchi). Jhonny’s motivation of this hybrid was to aim for high cup quality and high yield at the same time. Then the process is done as natural reposado, which is almost like an anaerobic natural process. He did it for 10-15 days as anaerobic fermentation for 10.12 degrees, then dried for 15-20 days, open during the day and covered up during the night. The cup is really creamy, great notes of grapes, baked pineapple and rum.
MONTHLY MAME 28 - September '22
The coffee for 28 was from Janson (1350 masl), Los Alpes, Volcan, Panama HighLands, lot 798. Green tip Gesha variety, processed with yeast anaerobically in their stainless tank.
The producer Kai Janson applied the yeast, in the tank for 120 hours around 20 degrees in a dark room and then dried on sun patios.
The flavour signature of matcha, Kai believes that it comes from the whole journey from the variety, processing and drying.
The coffee offers guava, papaya, mirabelle alongside matcha and genmai tea (toasted rice tea).
MONTHLY MAME 27 - August '22
The coffee for 27 was from Mi Finquita, Los Pozos, Chiriquí, Panama. This is the experimental farm run by Ratibor & Tessie Hartmann, who run Finca Hartmann too with the great Gesha variety. At Mi Finquita Ratibor cultivates Caturra, Bourbon and Gesha, Ratibor applies fermentations with the flavour focus and dries the cherries slowly and cautiously.
At Los Pozos it’s really dry and Ratibor decides how long his cherries have to dry (he smells and knows when to stop!) This month it was red bourbon and natural processed. The coffee is fruity and alcoholic - the cup has the flavours of cherry, rum and pineapple.
MONTHLY MAME 26 - July '22
The coffee for 26 was from Finca Hartmann, Chiriqui, Panama. Run by the oldest brother of Hartmann siblings, Ratibor Hartmann (the father of Yessie Hartmann, the producer of Monthly MAME 25 :) This lot is 48, which grows in the area Ratibor calls ‘ojo de Augua (water’s eye)’ or ‘corazon de Hartmann (Hartmann’s heart)’ because his grandfather started over there.
The variety is Gesha, very delicate, and natural processed. For this lot he dried the coffee for 30 days on African beds, watching and smelling the cherries to maximise the sweetness and potentials of the coffee. In the cup you will find orange blossoms, orange and white peaches.
MONTHLY MAME 25 - June '22
The coffee for 25 was from Bonita Spring, Boquete, Panama. The farm is now consulted by Yessie Hartmann, the daughter of Ratibor Hartmann, and the wife of Jean Paul Langenstein, the producer of Monthly MAME 24 :) The variety is SL28, which is not so common yet in Panama. Yessie took over the farm in 2017 and planted SL28 variety as one of the experimental varieties, and it grows pretty happily and healthily despite the lower altitude of the farm (1250masl). To honour the variety itself, they carefully selected only ripe cherries; those cherries were placed in bags with water for 2 days to start the fermentation. Then they got dried on African beds for around 20 days, then a second drying procedure was done in a dark room with controlled humidifiers to slowly dry them. This two-step drying ensures flavours to be highlighted and intense. In the cup you find two different qualities of acidities (malic and citric), exotic fruits like dragon fruits and white tea.
MONTHLY MAME 24 - May '22
The coffee for 24 was from Carmen Estate, Paso Ancho, Volcan Panama, particularly from Franceschi (2000masl) - presented by Jean Paul Langenstein, who is actually born in Zurich, Switzerland (where we are based!!) and has been a dairy farmer and later became a coffee producer. Franceschi is a part of Carmen Estate, which is focusing a lot on flavours that transmit the natural characteristics of their terroir - this particular lot is mostly green tip Gesha variety and processed washed. The steps of drying : first 24 hour hot fermentation in cherries, then depulped, put the depulped cherries and coffees in parchments together in tanks as cold fermentation for 10 days. Then they get dried for 15 days in the humidity controlled dark room (around 35% controlled), it’s all for refined flavours in cup such as : apricot jams, white tea and lemon - which Jean Paul shared with us, that he had been sensing as aroma during the fermentation.
MONTHLY MAME 23 - April '22
The coffee for 23 was an Asian coffee for the first time! The coffee is named after the mountain of Kintamani, more exactly named Kamala Kintamani #04. Produced by So So Good Company, represented by our good friend Mikael Jasin and his crew. We got to know Mikael through the World Barista Championships. He is a young, talented and inspiring coffee professional who wishes to take Indonesian coffees to the next level in the specialty coffee world.
The variety of this coffee was local Indonesian one called Kartika, cultivated in 1200 - 1500m asl. So So Good Company is specialised in their unique processing; as a big picture it’s anaerobic natural. In details: This particular lot was fermented in a massive ceramic tank that can fit 5-7 metric tonnes of coffee cherries and was fermented for 62 hours. The inoculant starter used in this lot was a combination of bacteria from the genus of klebsiella and s. Cerevisiae yeast strain. In the cup it was full of banana, cacao nibs, and a big sweetness in creamy mouthfeel!
MONTHLY MAME 22 - March '22
The coffee for 22 was from the farm Finca Soledad (1500masl), Imbabura province, by the producer Pepe Jijon. We met Pepe in March 2021 in Panama over a cupping, as he was there climbing mountains. As he says in the revealing IGTV, coffee found him - he had to stop his mountains climbing career due to a wrist injury. He believes in respecting nature and cultivating coffees, this month we had the variety Sidra, which he planted back in 2011. He loves the florarity of that variety, and wanted to expand the potential of the coffee by experimenting with biodynamic natural processing (no chemical disinfection on cherries). The flavours this time were really jammy and sweet, with notes of pears, strawberries, blackberries and papaya!
MONTHLY MAME 21 - February '22
The coffee for 21 was from the farm Misty Mountain (1500-1750masl) by Longboard, in Boquete, Chiriqui in Panama. The producer Justin Boudeman names himself as a micro producer for ultra specialty coffee - he aims to produce a coffee being scored for 100 points at BOP one day! The coffee this time was named Symphony, because Justin sees that flavours are so well balanced like Symphony. Very violet floral, fruity and sweet - the variety is Gesha and natural - processed. The flavours are Raspberry candies, violet flowers, tropical fruits with the whisky finish.
MONTHLY MAME 20 - January '22
The coffee for 20 was from the same farm as the monthly MAME 08, El Trapiche in Monteverde (1300masl) in Costa Rica. The producer Luis Diego Santamaria presented this beautiful Gesha variety with his great mastery of fermentation! Previously it was about boozy mouthfeel and big flavours, this time it’s all about elegance, florality and clarity. He put this coffee into a smaller tank in his special room to lightly apply the fermentation to it. He also believes that the particular lot is truly ‘Gesha like’ being floral and orange.
This coffee develops a lot over time - at the beginning it was all about orange blossom and orange. When it ages a bit more, the gentle alcoholic notes will kick in.
MONTHLY MAME 19 - December '21
The coffee for 19 was from the producer Jaime Cardenas, the farm called Finca Sin Limites (1500masl), in Naranjo, Costa Rica. Jaime started his farm in 2015, with the great help of Francisco Mena, the Exclusive coffee. He then went to Japan with the other Costa Rican producers, that’s when Jaime got motivated to improve the quality of coffees at his farm. The production was pretty low at the beginning of his journey, however he concentrated a lot on quality rather than quantity. Today he produces around 150 bags a year. He owns green houses to dry his coffees on African beds, no mechanical process is in practice and he tries to keep up the quality manually. For him the quality is the most important because he believes that this is the only way to keep his customers happy and they will stay with him in the end.
The variety of this month was Gesha, the process is anaerobic fermentation. The flavours are really ‘festive’ - lots of red grapes, papaya, and rosehip. As it cools you think of spicy like cinnamon and cardamom.
MONTHLY MAME 18 - November '21
The coffee for 18 was from Los Alpes (1750masl), owned by Janson family, in Volcan, Panama HighLand.This coffee was also presented by our head barista of today, the Italian barista champion of 2020, Daniele Ricci and he got placed 8th at WBC Milan. This particular coffee is the lot 541, only Greentip Gesha, and is natural anaerobic processed. We met Kai Janson this March, cupped together and fell in love with this coffee for the fantastic layers in flavours - and of course the charm of Kai.
With this coffee the recipe was combined with immersion and drip - to highlight the juicy mouthfeel with notes of pineapple, mango and red grapes.
MONTHLY MAME 17 - October '21
The coffee for 17 was from Los Manantiales, near San Jose, Costa Rica. The producer Esnider Rodriguez and the processor Esteban Villalobos from Cafe de Altura. These gentlemen this year managed to create Esnider’s beautiful, precious SL28 processed in the natural anaerobic environment. The signature of Esteban is the note of cinnamon, El Diamante, which is a total magic of local bacterias being together with coffee cherries in tanks, without adding the actual cinnamon sticks. These local bacterias are spicy when they meet coffee cherries, especially when they are from Tarrazu. Esteban masters the perfect combination of the bacterias over the years. His recipe of this bacterias combination is the secret of the pungent, yet elegant cinnamon note.
Together with SL28 this time, the coffee is even more complex - the brewed coffee gets you notes of cinnamon, then red apple, raisin, cognac.
MONTHLY MAME 16 - September '21
The coffee for 16 was from Hacienda Esmeralda, the Highlands of Boquete, Panama. This particular lot is named Bosque 2SN, Geisha variety, cultivated in the area of Jaramillo (1750 masl), which is one of the three farms the Peterson family owns. Rachel Peterson shared that this lot needed 7 - 8 years to produce the high quality. Rachel says that it took this long because of the humid climate over there, but thanks to that the lot really has a beautiful bouquet of jasmine, lots of stone fruits reminding nectar, very jammy tactile. To celebrate and preserve this goodness, the processing was done as slow drying natural for 2 weeks.
The most favourite part of this coffee? Big mouthfeel and the note of mon cheri !!
MONTHLY MAME 15 - August '21
The coffee for 15 was sourced directly from our origin trip in March 2021. This was a Gesha variety cultivated by Roberto Brenes, one of the Gesha variety pioneers in Panama. He manages his farm called Finca la Auromar (1570 - 1770 masl), Candela, Chiriqui, Panama.
His lots are often named after his female family members, like his daughters or granddaughters. This particular lot for the Monthly MAME 15 was, however, named ‘Vietnam’, which is not a name of his members - he named the lot Vietnam, thinking of the Vietnam war that took ages to end. The lot comes from the spot in the farm which is located in the North, where the sun shines strongly and the wind strongly blows. It took him a long, long time to grow that lot productive and tasty. This lot is natural processed, and all of his lots are either washed, natural or honey process. When it’s brewed it’s so bright, gentle and sweet - with notes of peach, orange and grape in floral aroma throughout.
MONTHLY MAME 14 - July '21
The coffee for 14 was, like Monthly MAME 3 and 7, from El Paraiso (1930 masl), Cauca, Colombia.
The producer Diego Samuel Bermudez Tapia is the director of INDESTEC (Innovation and Technological Development for Agriculture) and precisely processes his coffees with clear flavours in mind. The varietal is Castillo, processed and named as INDESTEC (L-01). We love Diego for being innovative in processing the coffees by working a lot with microorganisms that he has around him. Diego shared on IGTV with us, that he got inspired by fermentation in beer and wine making.
This particular lot, which he calls Limon processed, is actually processed with isolated microorganisms of pineapple. He designed this coffee to be citric, and indeed the notes of sweetie (hybrid of pomelo and grapefruits), lime, zesty and junipers are so present and pleasant.
MONTHLY MAME 13 - June '21
The coffee for 13 was from Finca Momoto (1500 masl), located in Chiriqui, Panama. Mathieu and Emi as MAME visited the producer, Luis Miranda in March 2021 and cupped coffees together. The lot is mostly Green Tip Gesha, and it’s natural processed. Luis, born in Nicaragua originally and lived as an organic vegetable farmer in the US for a while, he wanted to learn about specialty coffee and met his partner Alice Hartmann, who is one of the siblings at Finca Hartmann. Through his previous experience and love towards coffee, Luis approaches coffees with healthy, nutritious soils and dedicates his research and knowledge to grow happy coffee plants. They started Finca Momoto (the name comes from the local beautiful bird called Momotus) in 2015 and has 8 hectares. Finca Momoto is full of shading trees, which Luis thinks can create a cool, stress-free environment for the coffee plants which he believes it’s the key for qualitative, elegant floral coffees that he produces. The coffee gets you lots of violet flowers, jasmine, lime and orange.
MONTHLY MAME 12 - May '21
The coffee for 12 was from La Margaritas (1570 - 1850 masl), in the region Cauca, Colombia.
The variety this time is called Sudan Rume, which is an heirloom type of Arabia found in Sudan near the border with Ethiopia. Sudan Rume normally doesn’t have the high yield production, but they manage every detail to make it work!
The cherries are hand picked and sorted, then placed in open tanks for 20 hours as the first fermentation. The second fermentation takes place in barrels, which are sealed to achieve the anaerobic conditions. After these fermentations the cherries got mechanically dried for 8 days, in controlled temperatures of 38-39C.
The coffee is a beautiful blast of tonka beans, cake, and a buttery mouthfeel. Very unique!
MONTHLY MAME 11 - April '21
The coffee for 11 was something extra special - Lauria varietal from Daterra (1200masl), Cerrado, Minas Gerais Brazil. That variety was served at the World Brewers Cup Championship 2018 in Belo Horizonte and crowned Emi as the world champion that year.
Every year the farm Daterra cultivates special lots that have been always studied and adapted in the environments, presented as Daterra Masterpieces.
This year, we purchased this lot among others, the lot D24. The natural aerobic fermentation was applied, which means the ripest cherries were placed in an open tank without any additive water, yeast or anything else. This coffee gives beautiful flavours of grapes, papaya and apple - with caramel sweetness.
MONTHLY MAME 10 - March '21
The coffee for 10 was really, really special : Yuzo, Ninety Plus Gesha Estate (1500 - 1700 masl), Volcan in Panama. This coffee was crafted and processed by Joseph Brodsky in 2020 as their first year of the production - we only managed to source the tiny quantity, that every subscriber received 44g as one portion (!) The coffee offered another world in terms of aroma, flavours, textures and all: reminding you of rice wine sake, the citrus fruit yuzu, sweet orange. Then goes to plum wine Umeshu, stickier sweetness like honey, in the end turning into champagne as aftertaste. The variety is Gesha, the process is named Innovation/Proprietary.
This time MAME visited the farm in March 2021 to get to know Joseph in person. Check this here:
MONTHLY MAME 09 - February '21
The coffee for 09 was from the Gesha Village Estate, which is located in the southwestern part of Ethiopia and managed by Adam Overton and Rachel Samuel. The farm is divided into 8 blocks, this particular one is from Surma (1900 - 2000 masl), the varietal Gesha 1931 being named after the discovery back then. They name lots after harvests, this is Lot 94. The Lot 94 was harvested in Jan 2020, natural processed, sun dried for 26 days with dedication and care with greatest attention given. The combination of this beautiful varietal and careful processing, the coffee is super clean, gentle and long lasting floral joy with notes of mango and sweet orange.
MONTHLY MAME 08 - January '21
The coffee for 08 was from the farm located in Monteverde (1300 masl), in the northern part of Costa Rica. Costa Rica has a few parts being well known for great coffees, the family Santamaria chose this location to do the sugar cane business first back in 1948.
Since 2015 they do specialty coffee and the one of the family members, Luis Diego Santamaria wanted to bring his family business to the next level, taking their original varietals such as Caturra and Catuai and processing these as carbonic maceration. He and his friend and barista Ricardo Azofeifa Mora work closely together to find out processing methods to design unique flavours on top of the coffee varietals they grow.
Depending on their experimental processing methods, selected coffee cherries are placed in stainless tanks for days, then depulped and dried on African beds for about 3 weeks.
This coffee offers the flavour journey of juicy tropical fruits, then cacao nib and lastly red wine.
MONTHLY MAME 07 - December '20
The coffee for 07 was from the same farm as 03, El Paraiso (1930 masl), Cauca, Colombia. The variety is Castillo, this time processed as INDESTEC Red Plum (P-02). The producer Diego Samuel Bermudez Tapia is determined to make the innovation in processing beneficial to his and his neighbours, ensuring that their coffees are qualitative and tasty as designed. For this particular lot, this is how the coffee is processed:
- Cherries collected, 1st anaerobic fermentation for 48 hours in 18 Celsius in tanks
- Cherries get depulped
- 2nd anaerobic fermentation for 48 hours in 120 Celsius in thanks
- 2 times thermal shock wash, first 40 degrees water and second 12 degrees water
- Controlled drying for 34 hours in 35 Celsius rooms
These complex steps created exotic red flavours like dragon fruits and pomegranates in a cup.
MONTHLY MAME 06 - November '20
The coffee for 06 had the distinct flavour of MATCHA! Such a unique coffee :)
The varietal is Green Tip Gesha, which is the most original Gesha ever, and this particular lot called Hacienda lot 237 is from the farm Janson (1350 masl), Volcan, Panama HighLands. This coffee was anaerobic washed and sun-dried on Patio for 15 days, turning out such a clean, sweet, gentle cup brewed with the note of Matcha green tea.
MONTHLY MAME 05 - October '20
The coffee for 05 was with notes of red grape, cherry, raisin. It was from one of the collections by Project Origin by Sasa Sastic. The coffee is cultivated in Guji, Ethiopia (1950 - 2300 masl), the varietal is Heirloom. This lot had a name 0811, we renamed the coffee as Jasper Purple as the coffee is processed as Jasper natural. Intentionally crafted, combined with the recipe given, the cup is enjoyable with sweet and juicy mouthfeel.
MONTHLY MAME 04 - September '20
The coffee for 04 was with notes of red grape, fig and rhubarb jam in silky mouthfeel throughout hot, warm and cold. The farm is called La Negrita (1800 - 2200 masl), located in Tolima, Colombia, run by the producer Mauricio Shattah. Mauricio, being a doctor and businessman, has a clear view and knowledge to design dynamic and complex flavours for each coffee he cultivates. Emi met Mauricio back in Feb in 2019 in China over cupping his collections.
The coffee was yellow Bourbon, processed as natural anaerobic fermentation. Having the cherries tank-fermented for 72 hours and then dried on African beds in a dark, temperature and moist controlled environment for 4-6 weeks, the cup is filled with rich, dark sweetness and fruitiness like red grapes, ripe figs and rhubarb jam.
MONTHLY MAME 03 - August '20
The coffee for 03 was all about PEACH ICE TEA! Having the distinct note both in aroma and flavours, this must have been a true experience. El Paraiso (1930 masl), Cauca, Colombia. The producer Diego Samuel Bermudez Tapia is the director of INDESTEC (Innovation and Technological Development for Agriculture) and precisely processes his coffees with clear flavours in mind. The varietal is Castillo, processed and named as INDESTEC Lychee (Y-05). Whaaaat is that? Here is how it is processed:
- Cherries collected, 1st anaerobic fermentation for 48 hours in 18 Celsius in tanks
- Cherries get depulped
- 2nd anaerobic fermentation in mucilage for 96 hours in 18 Celsius in tanks
- 2 times thermal shock wash, first 40 degrees water and second 12 degrees water
- Controlled drying for 34 hours in 35 Celsius rooms
These complex steps created flavours of peach, ceylon tea and citric with big rich sweetness in a cup.
MONTHLY MAME 02 - July '20
The coffee for 02 was with notes of mixed berries, floral & herbal and cacao nibs - Stratus, the varietal Gesha, from the Morgan Estate (1700 - 1800 masl), Panama run by Jamison Savage. Together with Project Origin by Sasa Sestic, Jamison cultivates incredible coffees. Project Origin’s CM selection works with 4 types of carbonic macerations - Indigo, Jasper, Amber and Diamond - these processes craft definite flavours. This coffee Stratus was processed in Jasper natural, giving red, orange and yellow fruits.
MONTHLY MAME 01 - June '20
As this very first Monthly MAME, THE coffee that made the co-owner of MAME, Emi Fukahori the World Brewers Cup Champion 2018. Yes, it was the varietal Laurina - named Frevo at the auction - from the farm Daterra (1200 masl), Cerrado, Minas Gerais Brazil.
Daterra is an innovative and ambitious specialty coffee farm and has been working on this varietal Laurina since the last 10 years. Laurina, being less caffeine contained varietal than other typical arabica varietals, is not easy to cultivate. The tree is so small looking like bush promising low yields. The coffee was semi-carbonic macerated in a stainless tank for 48 hours, then dried on African beds for 20 days and finished up in a mechanical dryer. This processing method crafted flavours of grapes, orange and apple when the coffee is roasted and brewed. Emi was blown away by this complexity and silky, gentle mouthfeel in the cup. After being frozen as green beans for 2 years, still elegant and sweet, Laurina was released to our subscribers.
