Summary

A fully washed Colombia from the central Huila region, very sweet both as filter and espresso, with nice honey and lavander notes

The finer details

The origin

The beans come from La Amazonia by Josè Losada, located in the Garzón area, Central Huila, Colombia. This is a well known coffee growing area, and one of the few in the world to enjoy two crops, both characterised by extremely high quality: the fist crop goes from May to July and the second from October to December.

The producer

Josè Losada is head of quality for the Coocentral Cooperative (Cooperativa Central de Caficultores del Huila) which brings together and supports about 2000 small farms in the area and is composed of over 4000 members. Josè is in charge, among the others, of a special project to improve coffee quality involving about 70 members.

He has recently acquired two small plantations, of which one is named La Amazonia, since it is very close to an area of ​​dense and intricate rainforest. This plantation has enrolled into the Coocentral project managed by him. La Amazonia coffees, Caturra and Castillo varieties, are grown at 1800 meters above sea level and stood apart in blind cuppings for their intense and rich floral and honey notes.

The process

The picking is carried out manually over multiple days to ensure that only the ripe cherries are harvested in a given day. Cherries are subjected to a fully washed, dry-fermented process, which is very common for coffees of this region.

The cherries are firstly processed with small electric depulpers that remove the skin and most of the pulp. They are then immediately dropped into fermentation tanks, where they remain for about two days. During this period the fermentation process takes place. This leads to the residual pulp by yeasts and bacteria. Usually an intermediate rinsing of cherries is performed to better control the fermentation process.

After the fermentation, the beans are washed in dedicated tanks, and any floating immature bean is then removed.

The washed beans, still in their parchment, are then dried in well-ventilated parabolic driers, similar to greenhouses. These are used to promote moisture evaporation to stabilise the beans to a moisture level below 11% and to protect them from the frequent rains of the Huila region. The drying process takes from 10 to 18 days. During this period the beans are turned frequently around and any defects are progressively removed.

Once reached the desired residual moisture level, the parchment is mechanically removed from the beans. These are packed into sealed GrainPro bags, which are in turn inserted into the classic jute bags.

In the cup.

Whether roasted light, for filter, or medium for espresso, in the cup this coffee shows beautiful notes of honey, marmalade, lavender and spices. It is very sweet, intense and rich with a pleasant acidity.