Lost Origin Lot 162 - Finca Maya

This is the competition coffee with which we won this year’s TBrC Championship.

Our theme for the season was “Time.” Interestingly, this very coffee was also used by the WBrC Champion two years ago.

Finca Maya – Lot 162

Finca Maya is renowned for producing coffee with exceptionally high sweetness. Through Franz’s post-harvest processing techniques, the cup is enriched with vibrant tropical fruit characteristics. For this lot, the coffee cherries were fermented in whole fruit with wine yeast and lactic acid bacteria for four days, followed by a 33-day two-stage low-temperature darkroom drying process.

The two stages refer to separate rooms with carefully controlled temperature and humidity, gradually allowing the coffee to dry at different pace and conditions. This deliberate progression creates a lively transformation of flavors over time, perfectly echoing our theme of “Time.”

• At higher brewing temperatures: notes of grape and mango emerge
• At mid temperatures: pineapple shines through
• At lower temperatures: orange becomes more pronounced

The sensory journey shifts in color and flavor—from red-purple fruits to yellow fruits—demonstrating a vivid expression of time in the cup.

Lost Origin

The man behind Lost Origin, Franz, previously ran an award-winning craft beer company. Living in Panama—home to some of the world’s most exceptional Gesha coffees—inspired him to apply fermentation knowledge from brewing into coffee.

He began sourcing coffee cherries directly from farmers and fermenting them on the second floor of his brewery, using a beer fermentation mindset to create unique coffee profiles. Out of this approach, Lost Origin Coffee Lab was born—symbolizing a “lost origin” of coffee farms, where his fermentation philosophy could bring out new sensory dimensions.

At first, the project faced many setbacks, with few farmers willing to collaborate. But Franz’s aim was never to erase the effort of producers; rather, by purifying microbial strains and identifying the unique native yeasts of each farm, he refined the fermentation process to elevate their strengths. After a year of perseverance, he earned the trust of producers—and by the second year, a WBrC Champion had already won with his coffee.

Today, Lost Origin has become one of the most sought-after micro-producers in specialty coffee. With an annual output of only 2,000 kg (and a long-term cap at 4,000 kg), their coffees remain exceptionally rare. We are thrilled at Oasis to share with you Franz’s work—an uncompromising pursuit of excellence that continues to redefine fermentation in coffee.