Fruits of our Labor
Aloha! Kona snow season arrived, indicating that harvest will be arriving shortly once again. We are proud of what we have accomplished in our first few years at Monarch Coffee Farm. When Susy and Greg started growing coffee, they never thought that their simple act of retirement would lead them to what Monarch Coffee is today. With our expanded team’s combined passion, dedication, and hard work, together we are continuing to build Monarch’s reputation for excellence.
In past harvests, we focused on innovation by using different yeast strains and fermentation periods. While these all created wonderful micro-lots, or rather nano lots it was difficult to track all the way through. This year our focus is on plant nutrition, meticulous fruit selection, and even more intentional drying. With the help of our growing team, we are able to remain hyper-focused on factors affecting coffee quality and shelf life.
Monarch Estate Hawaiian Gesha coffee cherry flowering.
We have 5 really unique lots that stand out on the cupping table:
·Gesha whole fruit maceration
·Gesha washed process
·Gesha honey process
·Pacamara whole fruit Maceration
·Pacamara washed process
Whole fruit maceration, Monarch Estate Gesha and Pacamara on raised drying beds.
Our whole fruit macerations are not to be confused with “carbonic maceration” - a romantic term borrowed from the wine industry. Our macerations are a mixture of submerged and dry extended fermentations with mostly intact fruit at relatively low temperatures. Post maceration, these coffees are dried at low temperatures (never above 35C) and extended periods (45 days). During the drying process, the whole fruit coffees are brought in each night and stored in a controlled environment (25C and 40%RH) and put back on the drying decks during late morning hours to help combat humidity and temperature swings. After the drying process, coffees are rested in impermeable plastic bags in a controlled environment at 25C and 60%RH.
Monarch Estate Gesha, honey process.
While these beautiful coffees rest, we continue our best farming practices in preparation for optimum plant health and our future harvests. Coffee enthusiast followers, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to hear when these special coffees will be roasted and released, and for our green coffee buyers, we have samples ready for Ag inspection followed by shipment. You can email us your inquiries. We can’t wait to share these coffees with you.
