Condor Ridge Ranch – Cuicateco – NaturalCuicateco - Natural

This Cuicateco was grown by Frinj co-founder Jay Ruskey at Condor Ridge Ranch, one of the oldest coffee farms in California, located in Santa Barbara County. Cuicateco is a Sarchimor hybrid, blending the genetics of arabica and robusta coffee to deliver both high cup quality and environmental resilience.

Previous harvests of this coffee, which were sold under the Good Land Organics name, have received a 92-point score from Coffee Review. This year’s lot was processed using the natural method: cherries were fermented whole, dried on raised beds, and finished in a climate-controlled dehumidification chamber. This approach was chosen to enhance the juiciness and subtly spiced notes characteristic of this variety.

Sarchimor, rather than a single variety, refers to a family of cultivars that were developed by crossing Villa Sarchi, a Bourbon-derived arabica, with the Timor Hybrid, a natural arabica-robusta cross. First researched in the 1960s for its resistance to coffee leaf rust disease, Sarchimor includes cultivars known for exceptional cup quality. The Cuicateco cultivar traces its origins to the Cuicatlán region of Oaxaca, Mexico and it shares a lineage with Cuscatleco, a similarly high-performing Sarchimor selection developed in El Salvador.