Costa Rica - Diego Robelo - Mariana Thermal Shock

Diego Robelo's Mariana Thermal Shock 

This microlot of the innovative Mariana F1 Hybrid underwent an experimental process named Thermal Shock. This combination of plant genetics and fermentation science is a testament to the dedication of the team at Aquiares to advance coffee in every field possible.

Coffee highlights

Taste profile: Intense and bold with notes of cardamom, gin and juniper berries.
Processing: method: Thermal Shock
Bean origin: Turrialba, Costa Rica
Variety: Mariana
Harvest season: January 2025
Altitude: 1,100 – 1,400masl

Why choose the Casiopea Anaerobic Natural?

1. An unique combination of variety & processing.

   Unusually high sugar content in the coffee cherries allow for intense fermentation at high temperature creating bold and funky flavours.

2. A ground-breaking cultivar.

   This cultivar is at the fore-front of coffee breeding and may hold the key to more climate resilient coffee production.  

3. Sustainable innovation

   Aquiares is always at the forefront of innovation on all fields, agriculturally, socially and of course in quality. 

Brewing tips for Mariana thermal shock

This coffee works especially well in pour-over filter coffee.

From farm to coffee cup – the story of Mariana Thermal Shock 

This microlot of the innovative Mariana F1 Hybrid underwent an experimental process named Thermal Shock. This combination of plant genetics and fermentation science is a testament to the dedication of the team at Aquiares to advance coffee in every field possible.

Currently Aquiares is one of the few farms in the world to produce the Mariana F1 Hybrid. The plant was initially developed at a research lab in Nicaragua by manually pollinating coffee flowers of the Iapar 59 (itself an introgressed Sarchimor hybrid) and a male sterile Ethiopian landrace variety. This cross combines the resistant and productive characteristics of the Iapar59 with the excellent quality potential of the Ethiopian landrace variety.

This technique has been used to create other popular F1 hybrids such as Centroamericano and Esperanza. Mariana, however has an additional layer of uniqueness. It is the only F1 hybrid in the world that can be propogated by seed. Normally such a cross results in the offspring being sterile as happens with for example, mules as well. The combined genetics are so introgressed that further procreation is genetically impossible.

With Mariana, this is not the case as one of the parent plants is already male sterile. The exact science of this goes well beyond the scope of a coffee product page, but the implication for the coffee farming community is huge as this may make excellent varieties available at a fraction of the cost they used to be.

We are proud that Aquiares is an active participant in the development of this plant through their partnership with World Coffee Research. 

The processing that was selected for this lot is the Thermal Shock process. The name thermal shocks stems from the intensity of the temperature during the fermentation process. The freshly harvested cherries are cleaned with spring water to remove any impurities and then rolled up in a plastic sheet to stimulate the fermentation which causes temperatures of up to 65 degrees celsius.

In the controlled environment of the greenhouse this process lasts 72 hours after which the coffee is taken out of the rolled up plastic and dried on raised beds inside the green house for 15 days. Once drying is completed the coffee is rested for three months before export. 

We recommend brewing this coffee as filter exclusively. It is likely to present sweet flavours of cardamom accompanied by juniper berries (used to make gin) and notes of gin it self. 

Coffee roasting details

The coffee is roasted fast and light to highlight the floral notes.

• Roast Profile: Light roast at 199.1°C in 9:37 minutes  with a 24 second development time.

Ethical and Sustainable Practices

At Aquiares, sustainability goes beyond farming:

• The farm is Rain Forest Alliance and Carbon Neutral certified.
• Education, health care and child care is offered to all farm-workers.
• Coffee is shade-grown and forms a natural habitat for wild life.