Producer: Nando Diaz
Farm: Finca Santa Ana
Region: Santa Rosa Department
Altitude: 5,415-5,905 feet | 1,650-1,800 masl
Varietal: Caturra & Bourbon
Process: Pineapple Fermentation
Roast: Light
Notes: Toasted Almond, Redcurrant, Cocoa Powder

Nando Diaz's Pineapple Process begins by fermenting about 70 pineapples for 48 hours to build a colony of wild yeast and bacteria. (This will be enough to produce 10 69kg bags of green coffee.) Then the fermented fruit is added to the depulped coffee in larger fermentation tanks—the fleshy fruit gets added first and stirred, and the juice is added last so that it doesn’t just sink to the bottom. This sits for another 48 hours before being drained and then washed.

This extra fermentation accentuates the coffee's natural sweetness and juicy body. We love the resulting interplay of sweet and tart notes with a backbone of nuts and chocolate. 

Finca Santa Ana is a longtime Direct Trade partner of our sister company, Bird Rock Coffee Roasters. The farm has had multiple Cup of Excellence appearances, including #4 in 2010 and #16 in 2015. The carefully supervised quality control at the farm is evident in the cup.

Finca Santa Ana has partnered with local organizations to invest in the community of Pueblo Nuevo de Viñas, including improving the fiscal infrastructure of the pre-school, elementary school, and the county health center building and maternity room. The farm also provides a "coffee Kindergarten" during harvest season—a certified day care dedicated to the children of the temporary employees on the farm.

As part of our Direct Trade buying philosophy at PT's and Bird Rock, we always look for ways to invest in our farming partners in addition to paying a good price for the coffee. In 2015 Bird Rock shared an investment with Fernando to plant new seed stock at the farm with about 15 new varietals, including Mokka and Gesha. In a few years, these shrubs will give Finca Santa Ana more varietals to sell to specialty roasters and add another dimension to this already great farm.