Summary

Possibly the best Colombian micro-lot we cupped this year so far: very complex, with floral notes of elderflower and fruity traits of mature plum. Very creamy, bright and elegant it has a lovely lingering acidity and good body.

The Details

The Origin

This coffee comes from Criollo, a corregimento (a population centers that don't reach the level of municipality) of Pitalito, a municipality located in the southern part of the Huila department.

The Producer

The micro-lot comes from German Valenzuela's San Antonio farm. German has been a coffee grower for much of his life. His father was a coffee grower as well, and German was raised on a coffee farm: during his free time he worked along with his dad and learned this art.

When he was 25 years old, German’s father gave him two hectares of land so he could be independent. The business began to flourish, and German eventually sold up the land to buy San Antonio. The farm is comprised of nine hectares of which four are grown with Colombia varietal and four with Caturra. The farm is located at 1600masl.

The Process

The coffee is selectively harvested, dry fermented for 48 hours and dried about 15 - 18 days under parabolic dryers.

Coffee is picked in 3-4 passes during the morning. This means the workers handpick only the ripe cherries. Then they might wait a few weeks until there is again a decent amount of ripe cherries to pick in that same place.

The cherries are then pulped in the afternoon with mechanical de-pulpers to remove the skin and most of the pulp. The coffee goes straight from the pulper into fermentation tanks. It can sit there from one to two days, depending on the temperature. Higher temperature will speed up the fermentation process, and lower temperature will slow it down. To better control the process, intermediate rinsings with water are performed.

The beans are then sent to washing channels, where the floaters are removed. They are finally dried under parabolic dryers. These are greenhouses open on both sides to get better air circulation. The beans reach a desirable moisture level below 11% very slowly, taking 15 – 18 days. Usually, higher drying times are required to obtain superior quality bean.

In the last phase, the parchment is mechanically removed from the beans, and the green beans are vacuum packed and then boxed. Finally, they are shipped overseas.

In the Cup

German Valenzuela's microlot is possibly the best Colombia we cupped this year so far. It is very complex, with floral notes of elderflower and fruity ones of mature plum. Very creamy, bright and elegant it has a lovely lingering acidity and good body. We developed roasting profiles for both filter extractions and espresso, as we believe this coffee is outstanding as either one.