Enrique Pretel is a 77-year-old coffee producer in Boquete. His farm is six hectares in size, currently cultivating 7,000 coffee trees. He has had the property for a total of 12 years, with eight of them devoted almost exclusively to coffee production. Enrique sees the potential value in coffee as a means of economic stability and employs up to 10 people in the area to ensure the highest quality cherry. He thinks that art and coffee are the perfect combinations to keep youth interested in the industry. When asked what color he identifies his coffee with, he responded purple, like a perfectly ripened coffee cherry. INTRINSIC CHERRY Here the cherry is fermented in the very same bags they come in. It is in this way the process maintains the essence of each micro-lot. The bacteria and yeast strains are unique and vary in each batch, and by involving them in the fermentation, it lets the essence of the cherry shine. The fermentation environment is opened to the air and allow nature to guide the temperature – which averages at 30° celsius. In this case, great care is taken to keep temperatures below 45° celsius, to prevent the cherries from overheating. Fermentation times are kept between 12 and 72 hours, because the soaring temperatures of the natural environment result in drastic changes of the cherry cell structure, and rapid embryo death, completely changing the cup profile.