The Los Favoritos Auction is made by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence which showcases the best of farms by some of the most talented producers in the world, such as the Mierisch family. Drop has been working closely with the Mierisch family for many years. They have produced coffee in Nicaragua since 1908, with farms perched in the beautiful mountains of Matagalpa and Jinotega. During the competition, both our green buyers and owners, Joanna & Steve, were judges and cupped this coffee 90.5 and 91.5 and we bit hard on it. We won the lot and are the only ones having this specific coffee. All of the the flavour notes given by the full judging panel were as follows; plum, jasmine, peach ice cream, marzipan, stewed cherry, honey, passion fruit, jolly rancher candy, toffee, and chardonnay. Velvety body with subtle acidity, and a long, and clean, finish. Characterised by cultivating different varieties and experimenting with distinct post-harvest processes, the lots are chosen from the cream of the crop of the family‘s eight farms. To quote Mierisch “Quality is not a coincidence. Quality is hard work that is built every day. We are a generation that is passionate about coffee and our mission is always focused on continuous improvement, innovation, and sustainability” Both Joanna and Stephen were judges in the competition and blindly, but not surprisingly, cupped the Natural Java from Las Delicias as the top coffee. We also have the washed Java from Las Delicias on, however, that is not an auction competition coffee. The Java from Delicias is one of the prettiest most well-balanced coffees we have all year. At Las Delicias, the Mierisch family is mainly growing the Java varietal. The Java is delicate and bright, but every year it gets more and more intense notes of apricot and citric acidity. This Java from Las Delicias is processed as a natural, meaning the coffee beans are dried in the coffee cherries. By doing this process, the floral notes in the Java varietal are getting a boozy infusion to it and the sweetness is increased. It is a louder and more intense presentation compared to the washed-processed version of Java that we also currently have.