MCL's quick trip to the Iberian Peninsula before coming back again to Central Europe is over. February proved to be yet another record-breaking month for Mystery Coffee League. One hundred club members decided to submit their guesses this month!
Our second Roaster of the Month in 2023 was one of the best newcomers to Spanish specialty coffee scene - Three Marks Coffee from Barcelona. Marco and his team decided to source for us an exclusive coffee - also first ever infused Mystery Coffee.
Here are full details about our third Spanish Mystery Coffee of 2023:
🇨🇴 Colombia Santa Monica
Farmer: Jairo Arcila
Region: Quindio, Colombia
Variety: Castillo
Processing: Honey + Wine Yeast / Strawberry
Altitude: 1450-1490 masl
Tasting notes: strawberry, mango, vanilla
Harvest: 2022
About the coffee and farm:
This coffee was grown by Jairo Arcila at the farm Santa Mónica. Jairo Arcila is a third generation coffee grower in Quindio, Colombia. Married to Luz Helena Salazar they had two children together: Carlos and Felipe Arcila, the co-founders of Cofinet. Jairo’s first job was at Colombia’s second-largest exporter Racafe as their Mill Manager. And continued to work there for over 40 years until his retirement in 2019.
Jairo bought his first coffee farm, Finca La Esmeralda in 1987, where he planted his first Caturra lot. He was fortunate enough to earn money by producing coffee while also working full time with Racafe. Using his savings Jairo slowly managed to purchase five additional farms. First Villarazo, then Mazatlan, Santa Monica, Maracay and Buenos Aires.
Coffee production was incredibly profitable until 2005, when Jairo noticed a downturn and began converting his farms to grow avocado, banana, plantain, and oranges. With the rise of specialty coffee, Jairo has decided to give growing coffee another chance.
In 2014, Jairo leased his brother’s farm, Finca Castellon to plant gesha trees. Becoming one of two farmers to grow the variety in the region at the time. After the success of his Gesha after the first harvest, Jairo decided to plant more exotic varieties like Pink Bourbon and Tabi at his farm Finca Villarazo. And has recently planted 3000 Java trees.
He has planted native tree species in Santa Monica, Castellon and Bueno Aires, which creates shade, better soil quality and protection for Geshas, Tabis and Javas planted at altitudes below 1500 masl.
Jairo Arcila has been a part of Cofinet from the very beginning. Listening to his sons’ expertise in picking practices, sorting and processing of coffee cherries. He has been able to showcase fantastic coffees with amazing profiles of the region, through alternative processing. He has 50 people working for him during harvest season.
This particular lot was exposed to a dry anaerobic fermentation period of 72 hours with the pulp on. During this fermentation stage strawberry and wine yeast were added. The cherries were then pulped and placed to dry on raised beds with ripe strawberry placed amongst the coffee until the ideal moisture content was achieved.
Tasting notes from the Coffeemind's Flavour Wheel are strawberry, mango and vanilla.
For the second month straight, we have a new record number of club members who decided to submit their Mystery Coffee guess. This time we recorded 100 guesses. More guesses and more participants mean more perks for all of you. This is 20 more people compared to January Mystery Coffee League round with Diamond's. Hopefully, in March we will be able to beat that number once again.
Who was the best in this round? The winner of February 2023 is Jarg89 with a record and a maximum number of 30 points! Kaudha was close with 28 points in second place and Sami is taking third place with 25 points.
TOP3 of February 2023 round:
1. Jarg89 - 30 points
2. Kaudha - 28 points
2. Sami - 25 points
Sami is leading 2023 Season and Q1 2023 standings with 45 points. Followed by RedSteve and Jarg89 with 43 and 41 points respectively.
TOP3 of 2023 Season & Q1 2023:
1. Sami - 45 points
2. RedSteve - 43 points
2. Jarg89 - 41 points
Congrats to all people who decided to submit their guesses this time! Once again we hope for even more participants in March! A reminder that after Q1 we are going to give out prizes not only to the TOP3 but also to randomly selected people outside the TOP3!
We're also starting to do monthly giveaways for all people who participated in the previous round of Mystery Coffee League. We're starting with two sets of Mystery Coffee and Coffee of the Month from Banibeans. More details on how to join can be found on our Discord.
You still have a chance to join March 2023 round! We have a few bags of Industra's Mystery Coffee left. If you would like to join, make sure to join our Discord to find there an exclusive free shipping discount code! Visit this page for more details.
Roaster's line-up for the next few months:
MARCH 23 - Industra Coffee, Brno 🇨🇿
APRIL 23 - Banibeans, Ljubljana 🇸🇮
MAY 23 - DAK Coffee Roasters, Amsterdam 🇳🇱
Mystery Coffee League is sponsored by Acaia, 1zpresso, Kruve, Penny&Meriwether, ACME and Sibarist.
