Why did you choose this coffee? What was interesting or challenging about working with it?

PS: I chose this Indonesia natural anaerobic process from Tuang because I want to showcase and promote the quality of Asian coffee in coffee industry. Often, Asian coffee is overlooked by its quality not being as complex compared to other regions. This Indonesian has impressed me so much by its sweet tropical fruit flavors and delicate body that no other Asian coffee can offer.

The challenging part of brewing this coffee is how to maintain the flavors consistently throughout from hot to cold. So, I came up with pre-diluted water inside a carafe prior to brewing for clarity and enhance the taste.

DM: I chose Maracaturra from La Joya to highlight Mexican coffee at competition level, along with our producing partners at origin. We have been sourcing coffee from La Joya since 2019. Samuel Ronzon is a third-generation coffee producer at La Joya, along with his wife Gloria Hdez, a respective chemist in their field, producing high-end Mexican coffee through innovation and experimentation.

Maracaturra is a great example to showcase La Joya’s hard work. A hybrid variety paired with experimental processing, this coffee produces an elegant, balanced and structured cup that is bursting with red fruits and a complex acidity.

In order to present this in competition, developing a recipe to create both harmony and clarity as a final product was interesting, and temperature sensitivity was also an exciting challenge.

CSN: This coffee is special because it comes from a compulsory round from this year’s US Roaster Championship qualifier competition. All competing roasters were required to roast this specific coffee from Atlas Coffee Importers.

The size of the beans are small, so for the qualifying competition I actually sorted the beans before roasting, working with only larger beans (size 16, 17, and 18) to get an even roast. For this Coffee Project NY release, I don’t have the luxury to sort these beans because of the limited quantity.

Another challenge was finding the balance point between maintaining the coffee’s acidity and florality, versus making it more accessible for folks who like to use milk or brew espresso.