The coffee for this lot came from a mix of Sol De La Mañana producers from the Bolinda colonia, with the majority of it being produced by Mercedes Condori.

To ensure only the very ripest coffee cherries are picked, it's not uncommon for producers in the SDLM program to do 7 or 8 harvesting passes across their plants, many more than producers in other parts of the world do. This is very labour intensive and yields smaller amounts each pass, but ensures great quality. The downside is that for each delivery of cherries from Mercedes and the other smaller SLDM producers in Bolinda, the lots are too tiny to process separately and so instead, deliveries from all the producers are combined and processed together.

The traditional way to process coffee in Bolivia is via the Washed method, but the Los Rodriguez team have innovated and added an Anaerobic Fermentation stage which is done in stainless steel fermentation vessels. More commonly seen in breweries or wineries, these allow the absolute highest level of control in managing this process and enable the team to deliver incredibly consistent quality. Supported by the onsite lab and resident microbiologist, samples are taken and measured daily to monitor the fermentation.

Plums and figs get dusted with brown sugar in this moreish cup. As it cools you'll also find a milk chocolate edge joining gently.

• Country: Bolivia
• Region: Caranavi
• Colonia: Bolinda
• Producers: Mercedes Condori and neighbouring Sol de la Mañana producers
• Elevation: 1,550 – 1,650 m.a.s.l.
• Varietal: Caturra & Catuai
• Processing method: Anaerobic Fermentation Washed