MEET THE PRODUCER | Thanks to our friends at Torch Coffee and Marty in particular, we are pleased to welcome our very first Chinese coffee to the Black & White menu! This beautiful Catimor lot hails from the Yunnan Province of China, where Marty Pollack runs all of the operations for Torch Coffee in Asia. A member of the specialty coffee industry since 2009, Marty's LinkedIn page includes things like: co-owner of Torch, SCA trainer, SCI trainer, and Q Grader instructor. And, as if all of that wasn't enough, he also processed this coffee himself at their mill location in Manxieba Village. TRUST THE PROCESS | Upon arriving at the mill in Manxieba Village, the coffee cherries went through two rounds of quality control: first, they were floated to remove lower-density beans, and then they spent some time in the optical color sorter to ensure that only the ripest beans remained. This lot underwent two rounds of anaerobic fermentation, starting with 14 days of fresh fruit anaerobic fermentation. After being pulped, it then underwent an additional 14 days of honey anaerobic fermentation before finally being dried in mechanical dryers at 38 degrees or less. TAKE A SIP | You may have guessed this from the processing details above, but - spoiler alert! - this coffee has a high fermentation impact. The flavors are big and intense and full of red fruits, reminding us of dried cherries and a full-bodied red wine. It's also pleasantly nutty, like pecans. All of those aforementioned big, intense flavors combine with a sweetness that reminds us of dark chocolate.