INFERNAL DECADENCE, Panama

Morello Cherry, Plum Wine, Chocolate Mousse

Nelson Montenegro, a 60 year old pioneer in his field, has been working in coffee his entire life. Nelson inherited his farm from his parents, and is quite active in its operations to this day. With 18 hectares of producing land, and seven more dedicated to green space, this is no small task.

He employs up to 25 people in the area, with more during the harvest. Nelson grew up living and breathing coffee, and his commitment to quality is noticeable in every aspect from the nursery to the drying beds, to the forever experimentational fermentation tanks.

Nelson, one of a select handful of producers, collaborate with CCD. A group of creatives set to spark collaboration in the industry and beyond by weaving coffee together with the worlds of art and coffee, creating a colorful tapestry of installations and cup profiles.

CCD innovate with techniques that advance the way we think about coffee and how it is processed. Working with exclusively naturally processed lots that see controlled fermentation and are carefully and slowly dried on patios to allow these unique coffee profiles to stand out.

Each lot produced for CCD, both micro and nano, are placed into sealed valved plastic circular tanks, with 270kg of cherry in each. The valve allows oxygen to escape, creating an anaerobic environment. The tanks are housed at CCD's facility and generously shaded to maintain average temperatures of 28° Celsius. Following a physical analysis of the cherry, and taking into account altitude, microclimate, and varietal, CCD designate each lot into one of the four selected fermentation styles.

This lot in particular has undergone what has been proclaimed as, Static Cherry.

Static Cherry is where we begin to explore newer horizons and begin to leave the traditional behind. We see more development of lactic acidity in the cup, darker fruit notes, with a big, creamy body. We begin to see more complex notes appear, with more nuances within each canvas. The physical appearance of the raw material begins to take its own form, taking on a yellowish-brown color.

For this process, the ambient environment is crucial. The cherries are sealed into plastic tanks, with no oxygen present. By creating an anaerobic environment, this will allow certain bacteria and yeast to develop at a slower rate. This means free reign to experiment with different durations, in this case an average of 24 to 72 hours.

Following the respective process, the lot is finally dried as a natural. As the temperatures and conditions rise well above scorching for coffee, the proper precautions and measures are instated to create a more gentle and controlled approach to complete this process.