Felix Hohlmann is German Vice Barista Champion
Another silver medal goes to the coffee makers in Basel and Felix Hohlmann . Vice Barista Champion in Germany, what an exclamation mark! After his runner-up title in the barista and roasting disciplines in Switzerland in 2018, this is his first medal in Germany.
Coffee from Santa Rita
" This year was special—more significant than any other year before! " This is how Felix sums up his feelings about the second-place finish. "I used three coffees from our small farm in Nicaragua, Finca Santa Rita —part of our first harvest there. We lost a large portion of the harvest to the climate, and we had to accept a loss in quality. That doesn't mean the coffee wasn't good, but that it can be much better."
We're just at the very beginning with our farm, and so we're incredibly proud of what we've already achieved. When you narrow down the selection of championship coffees, the perspective on each ranking also changes. It's a status determination for a development we've chosen.
Farm under development
When we joined Finca Santa Rita two years ago, processing was impossible on-site. The farm was completely overgrown and in poor condition.
We were able to upgrade the wet mill before the first harvest. However, the on-site workflows, the team's training level, high turnover among the picking staff, and the climate all led to a difficult harvest overall. We lost large portions of the crop to the climate and suffered a loss in quality. That doesn't mean the coffee isn't and wasn't good, but it does mean it can be much better.
We were faced with irregular cherry picking and processing bottlenecks. Additionally, political tensions prevented coffee from leaving the country for a long time.
Nevertheless, our coffees performed wonderfully. Just a few days after the harvest, Benjamin became runner-up in the Swiss Brewers Cup with a Maracaturra with a special fermentation.
We noticed in the fall, and learned from discussions with others involved in cultivation and roasting, that fermentation was putting some of the coffees under considerable stress. It wasn't until much later, namely in the fall, that some coffees were able to show their full potential. This is exciting because in 2019 we will roast some coffees earlier and others much later.
Felix competed in the German Barista Championship with three of these coffees. Anyone who's had the chance to try the Lot Cheles in the last few weeks knows what we're talking about. The coffees are now here! Full of complexity and a great mouthfeel. And yet: we had a difficult harvest. We're just at the beginning of our project in Nicaragua.
Dry Mill, Mill Variedades and Team
In recent months, our Nicaraguan partners have built their own new dry mill. There, our coffee is dried just like the coffee from El Arbol. This has brought us one step closer to coffee processing and we're learning an incredible amount through our collaboration with our partner farm.
This year, 13 varieties were planted in small lots at Mill Variedades. It takes a patient three to four years until the first harvest. We won't actually taste the best coffees from these varieties for another eight years, as only the second generation of seedlings has perfectly adapted to the soil, region, and microclimate.
Our team is slowly getting organized. The processes are becoming clearer. The Basel team is often in Nicaragua, and the Nicaraguan team is in Basel.
That's why we're looking ahead with optimism. Because we know we're only at the very beginning when it comes to the quality of our coffees.
