POSSIBLY MAYBE

CONTINGENCY IN A CUP:
Possibly Maybe is the wild card on our menu. There are no strict guidelines for it. Instead it is a celebration of emergent or underrepresented origins, or perhaps a sensory profile that veers far from its regional expectations, or simply it is a lot that is delightfully surprising! We call it contingency in a cup because the flavour profile presents what is 'neither necessary, nor impossible', which is also part of what makes coffee so fun. As Björk says in her song Possibly Maybe, "uncertainty excites me" because "who knows what is going to happen?" 

ORIGIN:
Dani Ricardo and Luisa Gómez inherited the Bella Vista farm from Luisa’s father in 2019. They began growing yellow caturra but, recognizing both its resilience to the cold and potential in the cup, slowly switched over to Pink Bourbon. Always looking to improve the quality of his coffee, he connected with Monkaaba, who has helped with fermentation approaches and cultivation techniques. 

Monkaaba is a grower focused initiative. I had the great pleasure of meeting with two of its founders, Esnaider Ortega Gomez and Didier Ortega, when they came and visited the roaster with Brendan Adams from Semilla. The collectivist project that started with seven families seeking a cooperative “based on the principles of open access and community support”. As Brendan explains, the “Monkaaba project has blossomed into a tight-knit network of 60 families, all of whom are driven by an interest to know more about their coffee, how it might be improved, and how they can form resilient, stable relationships”. For information on the group's crucial work, please read more: here.

FLAVOUR:
As our wild card, Possibly Maybe is a home for those cups that make you say, what what coffee is this? Dani's coffee is a perfect fit thanks to its big juicy and tropical flavour profile. One key element is the Pink Bourbon variety. Pink Bourbon is a hybrid stemming from Red and Yellow Bourbon with a slight influence from Catimor varieties. It it associated with really lively aromatics and sparkling acidity, like this cup that is full of sticky apricot and nectarine flavours with a nice melon forward juiciness, the finish it delicate and creamy with a really strong caramel backing.