Jacob has been refining his fermentation skills to match the specific conditions of his wet mill environment and the fruit he receives. Over the past couple of years, he and Carlos have carved out a dedicated fermentation area in the wet mill and built improved raised beds for optimal drying. Jacob's fermentation process is straightforward: after receiving and inspecting the fruit, he gives it a quick rinse and seals it in grain pro bags to create an anaerobic atmosphere. The coffee remains sealed for five days while Jacob monitors it, periodically turning the bags. Following fermentation, the coffee is dried on raised beds using Jacob's preferred method—very slowly. He maintains a medium-thick layer of coffee cherries and uses shade to control the drying process. Jacob believes this slow approach is crucial and has nearly perfected his method to produce clean, fruity, and long-lasting coffee. The entire process takes over a month to complete.

This marks Don Eli's third season of in-house hulling, though it's their second year handling most of their coffee sorting from start to finish. Due to the small size of the anoxic lots, Jacob typically hand-sorts these at the final stage. Carlos's forward-thinking decision to establish their own dry mill continues to pay off. He acquired quality used equipment, and Jacob quickly mastered its operation to prepare exceptional export-ready coffee.

The Montero Family has been visionary, pioneering, and transformative in the Micro Mill Revolution in Tarrazú, Costa Rica. Carlos Montero, a lifelong coffee grower from a multi-generational farming family, envisioned processing their own coffee and working directly with consumers. This led to constructing Don Eli—named after his father—in 2014. Carlos played a crucial role in inspiring other coffee growers in the Tarrazú region to follow suit and build direct relationships with roasters. Over the years, Jacob has taken charge of the wet mill, developing his passion for processing their fruit. Recently, they added a modest dry mill station to prepare their parchment for export, continuously expanding their capabilities while improving quality and strengthening their direct relationships.

There are always new things happening at Don Eli—Carlos cannot keep still for a second, always moving and working on projects! Jacob has made significant progress by independently purchasing fruit and fully managing the wet mill. Together, Carlos and Jacob have established a modest dry mill in the warehouse, which has brought numerous improvements: faster export preparation, increased traceability, efficient transport, and greater attention to detail. They continue to plant new and interesting coffee varieties on the farm, and we look forward to enjoying the fruits of this labour in the coming years. A major achievement for the entire family was placing in the Cup of Excellence again in 2024.

Currently, Carlos and Jacob are installing mechanical drying equipment at the mill—a crucial advancement that will provide security during processing, especially given the increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.

Like Caturra and Pacas, Villa Sarchi (also called La Luisa or Villalobos Bourbon) is a natural mutation of a Bourbon population with a single-gene mutation that causes the plant to grow smaller (called "Dwarf/Compactism"). The variety was discovered in Costa Rica in the 1950s or 1960s in the northwestern region of the province of Alajuela, where it has undergone pedigree selection (selection of individual plants through successive generations). Though not widely grown outside Costa Rica, it was introduced to Honduras in 1974 by IHCAFE. It is known for being well-adapted to high-altitude conditions and tolerant of strong winds.

Villa Sarchi is perhaps best known as one of the namesakes of the "Sarchimor" group of coffees. In the 1970s, coffee breeders and growers in Latin America—and the global coffee industry that depended on coffee from the region—were extremely concerned about the recent arrival of coffee leaf rust in Latin America. In 1958 or 1959, the Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro of Portugal (CIFC), renowned for its research into coffee leaf rust, received two shipments of Timor Hybrid seeds. Timor Hybrid, a natural cross between Arabica and Robusta, appeared spontaneously on the island of East Timor in the 1920s. Its Robusta genetics provided rust resistance to the variety.

From these seed shipments, breeders selected two plants for breeding based on their high resistance to leaf rust. In 1967, CIFC breeders began work to create new coffee varieties that would be both rust-resistant and compact enough to be planted more densely. One of the rust-resistant Timor Hybrid plants, called HDT CIFC 832/2, was crossed with compact Villa Sarchi to create hybrid 361 (H361). The hybrid was dubbed "Sarchimor." (Crosses made with compact Caturra were dubbed "Catimor.")

Often called anaerobic fermentation, "anoxic" is the correct term for the environment where fermentation occurs. While fermentation itself is inherently anaerobic (not requiring oxygen), many other microbial processes happening simultaneously do need oxygen. One such process is the production of acetic acid, which can be pleasant in small amounts but leads to very sour, vinegar-like notes and "farmyard" aromas when concentrated. By fermenting coffee without oxygen, you can slow acetic acid production while encouraging more intense fruit flavours. This process can be carried out in various vessels, sometimes with added CO2 (carbonic maceration), and at different stages—either with whole fruit or after the coffee has been pulped.

The dry/natural process is the oldest and simplest method of preparing green coffee. Well-suited to environments with limited water access and hot climates, this process typically uses no water and requires no specialized equipment.

After harvesting, coffee cherries are dried until they reach about 20% moisture content. They're then usually rested for a few weeks in bags before being sent to a mill for hulling and export preparation.

The cherries can be dried on large patios or raised African beds—large trays with a mesh base that allow increased airflow for even drying. Best practices include keeping the drying coffee in shade during the hottest parts of the day and avoiding re-wetting by rain or condensation. Regular turning and good ventilation are also crucial to prevent mould formation.

To avoid defective seeds and sour fermentation off-flavours, it's best to sort the harvested cherries during the initial drying stage when under-ripe, over-ripe, and damaged cherries are easily spotted. After just a couple of days, the cherries turn a dark red-brown colour before becoming black, making it impossible to visually identify problem cherries.

Coffee begins fermenting from the moment it's picked and continues while there's enough moisture and high temperatures—conditions that favour microbial growth. This uncontrolled fermentation leads to the development of wild, fruity flavours and an increased perception of sweetness and body.