Jose and his sons Adrian and Nestor have been working together to identify opportunities in their processing to enhance the sweetness of their coffee. First, they float cherries to remove under- and over-ripe coffees, and then they intentionally leave the cherries to begin their fermentation process (a “cherry ferment”). Interestingly, instead of the more commonly-seen “cherry ferment” in plastic bags, they leave the cherries for their “cherry ferment” in cool water for 2 days, being careful to keep the temperature nice and cold. From there, the coffee is de-pulped and fermented under a very small layer of water (they estimate that the mixture of the fermentation is 70% mucilage, and 30% water). It’s fermented for about 36 hours in a cold tank covered with plastic, and then it’s fully washed twice. They move the coffee to dry in a raised dryer near the house, and they carefully monitor the temperature in the dryer, making sure that the dryer is hotter when the parchment is wetter at the beginning of the drying process, and then decreasing the temperatures (by increasing ventilation) to ensure that later in the drying process the more delicate parchment isn’t exposed to as much heat. Once the parchment coffee is dried to around 11% humidity, they store it in plastic bags at home to ensure that humidity remains stable.
This year, Adrian has been experimenting with adding specific microorganisms to the
fermentations- a farm in Cauca donated a barrel (thought to be lactobacillus), and the
family has kept them multiplying by feeding them sugar, and sugarcane juice. They
added microorganisms to some of their fermentations, including one of the lots in this
coffee. Adrian and his brother Nestor have both also been experimenting with various
processing styles on the farm, including fully-washed, semi-washed, honey and natural
coffees.
Jose and his family are a part of Los Guácharos (pronounced WATCH-ah-ros) in Bruselas, southern Huila. Los Guácharos is a group made up of smallholder producers focusing on quality, collectively converting to organic agriculture: making their own fertilizers and fungicides, installing complex water filtration systems that use gravity, stones and sand to remove all mucilage residues from waste water to not contaminate water systems. They are forcefully self-determined. The group’s power lies in their organization as an association, committed to improving all members’ coffee, and cooperating to sell directly, without working with intermediaries. They have all voluntarily trained at the local agricultural college in specialty coffee production:
everything from agronomy and accounting to roasting, cupping and latte art. They
collectively pay for consultancy in organic agriculture, and they work on each other’s
farms installing water filtration systems and spraying organic fertilizers. The members of
the group have also started the conversion to fully ecological and regenerative
production, close to biodynamics. The Guácharos produce a brew (called Super Magro)
made up of organic minerals and waste products, molasses, bone ash and manure
(among other ingredients), fermented with microorganisms collected from virgin soils
and used as a fertilizer and protectant from disease. The Super Magro is edible, incredibly effective, and represents a producer-driven grassroots movement empowering producers to increase soil health, reduce costs and stop dependence on chemicals. This is another beautiful farm-gate coffee that is lovely as espresso.
Cupping Notes: Caramel covered apple, chocolate and spiced cake notes
Brew Recommendations: Espresso, drip, French press, pour-over
Varietals: Yellow bourbon
Region: Huila
Processing Method: Wet process (washed) and patio sun-dried
Equity and Transparency Pricing Levels
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Sustaining Level: $16 per 12 oz bag (check out subscriptions for deep discounts) | More info below
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Uplifting Level: $20 per 12 oz bag (check out subscriptions for deep discounts) | More info below
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Benefacting Level: $24 per 12 oz bag (check out subscriptions for deep discounts) | More info below
