Booze Cruise

Booze Cruise is produced by Diego Robelo at Aquiares in Turrialba, Costa Rica, using Centroamericano, a hybrid of Sarchimor T-5296 and Sudan Rume. This anaerobic natural is a fun one from the latest harvest: no fuss, just fruity, a little boozy (the right amount), versatile and easy to drink. Purple grapes, cherry praline and brown sugar bring dark fruit and plenty of sweetness to a round cup.

At Aquiares, coffee growing and community have developed together for generations. Diego Robelo now manages the farm, continuing his father Alfonso’s work while exploring new varieties and processing methods. This lot grows at 1200 m on the slopes of the Turrialba volcano. The variety is Centroamericano H1, a cross between Sarchimor T-5296 and Sudan Rume, processed here as an anaerobic natural. The result is dark and fruity, with purple grape and cherry praline followed by brown-sugar sweetness and a slightly boozy finish.

Aquiares, Turrialba, Costa Rica. Diego Robelo manages the farm, where coffee grows alongside protected forests, natural springs and streams. This lot grows at 1200 m on the slopes of the Turrialba volcano, in the conditions that have shaped coffee production at Aquiares for generations.

Centroamericano H1, a hybrid of Sarchimor T-5296 and the rare Sudan Rume. It combines good productivity and resistance to coffee leaf rust with the potential for a complex cup. Diego has been exploring how this variety performs in Turrialba’s climate.

Anaerobic natural. The whole cherries ferment in an oxygen-limited environment before being dried with the fruit still intact. For this lot, the process moves the cup towards darker fruit, with purple grape and cherry praline followed by the sweetness of brown sugar.

Medium. Anaerobic fermentation introduces a controlled stage before drying, with oxygen exposure managed during fermentation. The cherries are then dried whole as a natural, making this more involved than a traditional natural process without moving into a heavily manipulated processing method.

Produced by Diego Robelo in the Turrialba region of Costa Rica, the Booze Cruise lot showcases the unique potential of the Centroamericano H1 varietal. This coffee is processed using an anaerobic natural method, a technique that often encourages intense fermentation profiles and complex sweetness. When roasted by Dayglow, the resulting cup highlights distinct notes of purple grapes, cherry praline, and brown sugar.

Anaerobic processing is frequently utilized to push the boundaries of traditional flavor profiles, often resulting in a heavier body and heightened fruit-forward characteristics. For those looking to better understand how these specific descriptors align with broader sensory categories, consulting a flavor wheel can be a helpful exercise in identifying the nuances of such experimental lots. By balancing the inherent qualities of the H1 varietal with the precision of the anaerobic environment, this coffee offers a compelling look at modern production in Turrialba.