More about this coffee and reiogn....
Greetings from the mountains of Castañer, Puerto Rico… Hacienda las Nubes is a small coffee farm owned and operated by Don Cardona in the mountains of Castañer, Puerto Rico. Located at a sufficient altitude so that low lying clouds come and perch, engulfing his house and farm in a delightful cool mist; thus the origin of the name of the farm, Hacienda las Nubes (Nubes means clouds).

Don Cardona grew up in Ponce, a coastal town of Puerto Rico. He came to know coffee growing through visits with his grandfather, who was a large landowner in the Adjuntas area. Don Cardona studied electrical engineering on the US mainland and went on to work first for General Electric and then for Chrysler, rising up through management and in later years, troubleshooting problems in the Latin American division of the company.

Upon retiring, Don Cardona returned to his childhood home of Ponce, and on a lark bought a small farm in the Adjuntas area that was once part of his grandfather’s farm. His intent was to have a weekend ‘getaway’, making only occasional visits to the mountains and living the majority of his time in town. Lucky for us, Don Cardona was bitten by the Coffee bug. His interest in the coffee process soon developed into a desire to produce the best coffee possible.

Don Cardona has combines his love of the land and culture of his boyhood with his knowledge of engineering principals to solve difficult problems in the coffee production process. An example of this is the process of drying the coffee. The traditional way to dry is that after the mucilage (the sugary mucus material covering the beans within the fruit) is removed, the beans are spread out on a flat surface, usually concrete or tile. This presents a real headache for the farmer, as it is hard to keep the coffee clean from the effects of wind bringing in dirt and debris, not to mention the havoc animals can cause. The major difficulty is keeping the coffee out of the rain, and in this part of the country, rain is a daily occurrence.

To dry his coffee, Don Cardona has developed large trays which have wooden sides with metal bottoms with holes to let the air through – but too small for the bean to slip through. The trays are built with small metal wheels that run on a track so that when storm clouds come up the trays can be quickly pushed into a protected area to avoid the rain.

Don Cardona uses specific techniques in processing his coffee to insure only mature coffee beans are used first. First of all the pickers are paid extra to pick only ripe fruit. The fruit is then placed in a water vat that takes out debris, leaves and twigs that may come in the picking process. This also allows for the skimming off the ‘floaters’, immature beans that dry on the vine or mature with very little substance. The bottom of the vat is a de-stoner, which is a decanter to remove objects, such as stones or pieces of metal that might have gotten in during the picking.

A most interesting mechanism that Don Cardona claims is very low tech, but very effective, is the de-pulping mechanism that separates the fruit from the coffee seed after going through the de-stoner. The technique takes advantage of the fact that the ripe fruit is soft and when squeezed the seed will easily slip out, very much the same as a ripe cherry when it is squeezed. The green fruit, however, holds tight to the seed and in so doing is ejected from the de-pulping process, thus working as a final process to ensure only ripe fruit continue in the process.

A recently submission of this coffee was sent to Coffee Analysts, an independent laboratory specializing in coffee, located in Vermont. Here is what they had to say:

The sample was marked by sweet, bright, cherry notes throughout the fragrance, aroma and overall flavor. Milk chocolate and mild clove-like spice notes highlighted the flavor. It exhibited medium acidity and body that gave it the complexity and balance of a specialty coffee.

As you can see, producing the highest quality coffee has become an obsession with Don Cardona. Considering the joy and pleasure that he gets from his work, I would call it a delightful obsession.

You too can participate in his delightful obsession by savoring a cup of this very special coffee. As you enjoy the deep richness of this coffee, do not be surprised when the air around you becomes slightly foggy and touches your face with a cool mist. You have just entered into Hacienda las Nubes.