A few years ago, Jose Ignacio built a custom solar dryer on his farm near the wet mill. The dryer includes three levels of raised drying beds under a plastic roof that allows light to pass through, while agricultural winds control the temperature by passing through the open ends of the dryer. Jose has carefully oriented the dryer to make the most of the crosswinds to control the temperature. When the coffee is freshly picked – in the case of naturally processed coffee – or dried, in the case of honeyed and washed coffee, it is first placed on the lowest bed. As it dries, the coffee gradually moves to the upper level, where it remains until it reaches the desired humidity. It is then ready to be transferred to a storage facility called a of course, where it rests in phase reposeDuring this period, all the flavors that will be detectable in the cup stabilize.

Carlos Alberto, Jose's childhood friend, is the manager of Finca El Paraiso. Carlos is in charge of monitoring the drying process and moving the coffee beans between levels as the drying progresses.

Always willing to experiment and improve his production, Jose was happy to try planting Geisha trees on his property, as some of his colleagues have done. The Geisha trees are planted among other varieties and are part of the wider ecosystem of the Paraiso farm. This planting is part of Jose’s ongoing experiments to evaluate the performance of different coffee varieties, both from an agronomic perspective (yield, resistance to pests and diseases) and from an appeal to end roasters, whether by variety or processing method.