Bolivia: Brenda Palli, Dry Fermented Washed
Brenda Palli
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Super clean and crisp, there's white grape and orange up front, a white sugar sweetness behind it all and red apple on the aftertaste for a refreshing and lively cup.
Super clean and crisp, there's white grape and orange up front, a white sugar sweetness behind it all and red apple on the aftertaste for a refreshing and lively cup.
This year we've been lucky to source two very exciting lots from Brenda Palli – one Dry Fermented Washed (this coffee!), one Anoxic Washed. They're going live at the same time and we highly recommend you try them side by side to see the difference these processing methods bring to otherwise identical coffees. Truly delicious and fascinating stuff!
The coffee for this lot came from a mix of Sol De La Mañana producers from the Uchamachi colonia. The largest contributor was Brenda Palli, a 29-year-old producer who's been working in Sol De La Mañana since 2021. Her farm, La Hermosa, is located at 1,580 metres above sea level in the colony of Villa Rosario.
To ensure only the very ripest coffee cherries are picked, it's not uncommon for producers in the SDLM programme to do 7 or 8 harvesting passes across their plants – many more than producers in other parts of the world. 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 the SDLM producers in the area, the lots are often too tiny to process separately. Instead, deliveries from all the producers are combined and processed together.
So what makes Dry Fermented Washed different?
Here's where it gets interesting. Once the fresh cherry is delivered to Buena Vista mill, it goes through a de-pulper to remove the skin and fruit pulp from the seeds. But instead of adding water to fermentation tanks (as you would with traditional washed processing), the de-pulped coffee – still coated in its sticky mucilage layer – goes into closed tanks to ferment in its own moisture and natural juices.
This dry fermentation environment creates a more concentrated microbial activity. The yeasts and bacteria breaking down that mucilage are working in an intensely flavour-rich medium, rather than a diluted water bath. The result? More pronounced fruit character and a heightened clarity in the cup. Those bright white grape and citrus notes you're tasting? That's the dry fermentation at work.
After fermentation is complete, the coffee is thoroughly washed to remove all remaining mucilage, then taken to raised drying beds where it slowly dries to the optimal moisture content. It's this combination, the intensity of dry fermentation followed by the clean finish of full washing, that gives this coffee its crisp, vibrant profile with all that juicy fruit character up front.
When you taste this alongside the Anoxic Washed lot, you'll notice how different fermentation environments shape the final cup, even when the cherry, elevation and variety are identical. It's processing geekery at its finest.
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- Country: Bolivia
- Department: La Paz
- Province: Caranavi
- Farm: La Hermosa
- Producer: Brenda Palli
- Location: 15°48'56.8"S 67°31'40.9"W
- Altitude: 1400 – 1650 m.a.s.l
- Processing method: Dry Fermented Washed
- Varietals: Caturra & Catuai
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Medium
We're roasting this one medium - taking it through the gap between first and second crack and letting it develop a little in that window before finishing right on the cusp of second crack.
Here's what that means for your cup: the gap is that sweet spot between the audible pops of first crack (when the coffee's internal structure first breaks down) and the quieter crackle of second crack (when sugars begin to caramelise more heavily). By developing the coffee in this zone rather than rushing through it, we're allowing those bright, crisp fruit acids to round out and integrate with the natural sugars, building body and sweetness without losing any of that lively acidity.
Stopping right on the edge of second crack is deliberate. Push it any further and you'd start to dampen those delicate white grape and citrus notes that make this dry fermented lot so vibrant. Pull it out any earlier and you'd have sharpness without the balance. This roast level lets the processing shine - all that concentrated fruit character from the dry fermentation comes through clearly, supported by enough development to give you that white sugar sweetness and a smooth, clean finish.
It's a roast that respects what the producers and the mill have achieved, letting the coffee speak for itself rather than imposing our own agenda on it.
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Tasting Notes: White grape, orange, red apple.
Cup of Excellence Cupping Scores
- Clean cup: 7/8
- Sweetness: 6.5/8
- Acidity: 6.5/8
- Mouthfeel: 6/8
- Flavour: 6.5/8
- Aftertaste: 6/8
- Balance: 6/8
- Overall: 6/8
- Correction: +36
- Total: 86.5/100
If you would like to find out more about how we score coffees, make sure to read our blog post "What Do Coffee Cuppings Scores Actually Mean?" by clicking here.
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Our coffee is roasted fresh and ships quickly – which means it might arrive a little lively. Here's the thing: freshly roasted beans are still busy releasing carbon dioxide (a natural byproduct of roasting), and all that activity can make your brew taste a bit sharp or unsettled.
Give it a few days to calm down and something lovely happens. Those brighter, edgier notes mellow out, sweetness develops, and the flavours you're actually after can really come into focus.
We recommend resting your coffee for at least 5-7 days from the roast date on the bag before brewing. A little patience goes a long way.
That said, this is just what we've found works best – not a rule. If you can't wait, we completely understand. Tuck in whenever you like.
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Producer Stories
Learn more about coffee sourcingBrenda Palli
Brenda is a small producer in the Sol de la Mañana program (see Martin Chirino, Pedro Flores, Gregorio Palli). We didn’t get a chance to meet her when we visited for the harvest, but her coffee really jumped out to us on the cupping table. We decided to take it and we’re looking forward to going back to Bolivia in August and getting to meet her.
Read more