There is something special about coffees produced with the so-called “natural” method. Common in Ethiopia and Yemen, this minimal style of processing produces a remarkably distinct flavor profile: big body, bold fruit, and often an unmistakable wine-like, boozy character. Naturals are rare in California, but this lot from Rocky Top Ranch in San Diego County shows what you get when everything goes right. Grounding notes of rum and tobacco are lifted by an energy that recalls dried stone fruit and fruit leather. Many of our coffees bring to mind Ethiopia, Panama, or Hawaii. This is one of the first to remind us of Yemen’s flavor signature, but with a California character you won’t find anywhere else.

This California Catuaí is the first coffee release from Rocky Top Ranch. The farm sits in De Luz, right on the line between San Diego and Riverside Counties. That puts it in a hotter area than the coastal growing regions, and we’re finding that the heat produces a distinctly ripe flavor in the cup. The natural process brings those qualities forward, giving the coffee its rum-like depth and fruity overtones.

The coffee was hand-picked at peak ripeness and spread as whole cherries on mobile raised beds. The beds were set outside during the day, where the cherries were turned constantly, and brought inside at night until the cherries reached a stable 15% moisture. The cherries were then bagged, taken to our post-harvest mill in Ventura, and dried on raised beds for another 15 days until they reached 11%.