Arrived February 12, 2022

Forward has purchased 25kg of Creativa Coffee District lot N23 Intrinsic Cherry Geisha. 

Twenty five (25) kilograms have been booked by Hatch Crafted in Marham, Ontario

This is a new coffee project called Creativa Coffee District. CCD had its first production in 2020. Forward is thrilled to have been amongst a select few, globally, offering these coffees.

This project is about far more than just coffee. I truly believe the project's mission is imperative in changing the perspective of coffee and what it stands for. It was started by the same team from the renowned farm, La Palma y El Tucan, and it has an amazing vision. CCD has taken over a very old processing facility in Panama, which has been decommissioned for many years now. They've not only turned this into a coffee mecca but also created a platform for artists. This project will host an artist residency and will fuse the worlds of specialty coffee with eco-tourism and art. 

This particular lot is part of the Neighbours and Crops program. CCD buys cherry at premiums from nearby producers. Javier Caballero, the producer for N23, grows the Geisha coffee. Creativa Coffea District is responsible for the processing, dry milling, branding, and logistics. This allows the neighbors to focus their efforts on other areas of life, confident that their coffee will be purchased at a sustainable price.

N23 is a natural process CCD calls "Intrinsic Cherry":

"In this fermentation, we take a raw approach. After harvesting the cherries, we leave them in the bags they came in. This is so the natural bacteria and yeast the cherries have are kept at a maximum and we are able to create a fermentation that allows the unique characteristics of each farm to shine. It is an aerobic fermentation with the presence of light. It takes place under our climatic conditions. In the case of CCD, the average temperatures for this season are 30º C. After the fermentation, we dry the coffee on the patio or on African beds."

This particular lot comes from a place called Finca Caballero, which is owned by Javier Caballero.

We highly advocate visiting their website, so you can see what they're doing on the ground:

Creativa Coffea District

Variety: Geisha
Price Forward paid per kilogram: $66.00 USD FOB
Process: Natural Anaerobic 'Intrinsic Cherry'
Total kilos purchased: 50kg (2 x 25kg boxes) 
Harvest date: February 2021 
Fermentation: 40-hour whole cherry anaerobic fermentation
Drying time: 19 days total in raised beds 
Drying temperature: 30°C Max. - 16°C Min.  
Altitude: 1600masl
Region: Boquete, Panama