"Upon grinding, the aroma shows orange zest, white peach, and lime. On the palate, citrus and yuzu tea lead, followed by smooth peach sweetness. Delicate florals and a hint of honey carry into a clean, sweet finish."

The Nest x HACHI Coffee is a collaborative project built around HACHI’s commitment to measurable quality and disciplined experimentation. Rather than treating processing as a stylistic label, the team frames each decision as a controlled variable, from seed selection to microbial activity and drying behavior. The philosophy behind Chenxi is rooted in evidence, repeatability, and a refusal to separate cup quality from biological understanding. This approach gives the coffee a clear identity: not a spontaneous result, but a carefully directed expression of farm material and fermentation design.

The coffee comes from Yundingqing Estate in Shuangjiang County, Lincang, Yunnan, better know as The NEST. The Nest estate sits between 1,450 and 1,650 meters above sea level, where cool mountain air, abundant sunshine, and warm daytime temperatures shape slow cherry development. The region’s red soils are rich in minerals and organic matter, supporting healthy root systems and steady plant growth. The surrounding climate combines clear dry periods with pronounced seasonal rainfall, creating a setting where coffee can build structure, sweetness, and layered aromatic potential.

This lot is built around Syrina as the recipient coffee in HACHI’s Symbiotic Process. Syrina is valued for its compact growth, productive habit, and ability to express clarity when cultivated under suitable highland conditions. In this context, its clean structure makes it an appropriate base for a controlled fermentation method that introduces aromatic complexity without overwhelming the coffee’s own character. The variety’s role is therefore both agronomic and technical, providing a stable canvas for the process to develop depth, balance, and definition.

Ripe cherries are harvested selectively before entering the first stage of the Symbiotic Process. A fragrant donor material, such as Gesha seed matter, is used to cultivate a nutrient-rich fermentation medium that supports active yeast, lactic acid bacteria, and acetic acid bacteria. The recipient coffee is then washed clean and fermented for 12 to 24 hours in this prepared medium, allowing aromatic compounds and microbial metabolites to interact under controlled conditions. After fermentation, the coffee is dried slowly under appropriate temperature and humidity, with the goal of preserving balance rather than forcing intensity.

Because the coffee is sourced from human-grown cherry rather than a fixed synthetic substrate, the final cup is never a direct copy of the donor material. Instead, the process encourages aromatic transfer, microbial expression, and deeper fermentation complexity while keeping the base coffee’s structure visible. Chenxi reflects this balance between natural agricultural variation and deliberate technical control. Its name, suggesting the warmth and vitality of morning light, fits a coffee designed around precision, clarity, and quiet sweetness.

Variety : Syrina
Altitude : 1,450–1,650 masl
Process : Symbiotic Process
Origin : Yunnan, China