Few coffees grown in California are as mysterious as Cuicateco. Exclusively grown at Condor Ridge Ranch in Goleta, it has long ranked among the state's best: Coffee Review scored a FRINJ Cuicateco 92 points in 2019, and it has only improved since.

The mystery is in the name. Cuicateco has no entry in World Coffee Research's variety catalog, and documentation is scarce. Our best guess is that it's a relative of Cuscatleco, a Sarchimor variety from El Salvador, with a name that may nod to the Cuicatec coffee-growing region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Sarchimors are Arabica plants with a little Robusta in their family tree, bred for disease resistance and once overlooked for cup quality, though that has changed in recent years. 

Whatever its origins, the cup speaks for itself: a distinct melon note, caramel sweetness, and a rich, brown-butter texture. It's the most distinctive expression of Cuicateco we've tasted yet.

This lot was picked at peak ripeness and processed using our Traditional Washed method, fermented aerobically for 22 hours with only wild yeast native to Southern California, then washed and dried for 17 days to a stable 11.1% moisture.

Condor Ridge Ranch, planted in 2002 by the late Jay Ruskey, is the first commercial coffee farm in California and remains the source of many of FRINJ's best coffees. Its plantings range from classics like Catuaí, Bourbon, and Typica to rarities like Geisha, Laurina, and Cuicateco.