El Chivero - Colombia

CUP SCORE 89.50 (SCA cup protocol)

Dark plum / Dried dates / Raspberry / Blueberry

suggested for espresso and filter

 

PLEASE NOTE
We roast to order all coffees on Wednesday and Saturday, dispatching on next working day. Cut-off time is 8am UTC+1

 

Technical detail

Juan Saldarriaga       Colombia    
Producer              Country
 
         Antioquia          1600-1800 mt 
Region/Terroir       Elevation   

 

         Dry (natural)    Castillo/Colombia  
 Fermentation        Cultivar    

 

   June 16                  April 17
   Picked in            Landed in

 

           600 kg               Vacuum pack  
     Lot size                Arrived in
                                     Self-made
   Rubens Gardelli     drum roaster
  Roast profile by    Roasted on

 

 THE STORY BEHIND

Dry-processed (as knowns as natural) coffees from Colombia are extremely rare and we are proud to offer you this small microlot from a quality-driven producer.
Luis Saldarriaga is the owner of the farm La Claudina in Ciudad Bolivar, but it's his son Juan who really is the producer in this case. Juan is experimenting with different processing methods, varietals, and is also helping other younger producers in the area. This lot is a natural, and is 50/50 Castillo and Colombia varieties. The two farms he now owns are about 60 hectares each, in altitudes from 1400 to 1800 meters. He is experimenting with different cultivars in different altitudes, and many of them are recently planted. Antioquia is known for solid, but maybe slightly boring coffees, but there is a lot going on right now, and we think these coffees are proof of that. The biggest challenge is the drying due to humidity and temperature. After we met Juan and started to talk about drying under shade, he immediately constructed drying facilities with raised bed under cover. He has also installed a machine that can dry with cold air and with a software where you can adjust temperature, airflow etc, and make profiles on different coffees.
Hes also working with friends and surrounding producers with Caturras and other cultivars up to 2000 masl. Many of them are young small farmers that are eager to proof that antioquia have more than chocolaty and heavy bodied coffees.

THE FERMENTATION PROCESS
Dry process seems simple: pick the fruit, lay it out in the sun until it turns from red to brown to near-back, and then hull off off the thick, dried outer layer in one step to reveal the green bean. It is a method suited to arid regions, where the sun and heat can dry the seed inside the intact fruit skin.
It's often referred to as "natural coffee" because of its simplicity, and because the fruit remains intact and undisturbed, a bit like drying grapes into raisins. Since it requires minimal investment, the dry process method is a default to create cheap commodity-grade coffee in areas that have the right climate capable of drying the fruit and seed.
But it’s a fail in humid or wet regions. If the drying isn't progressing fast enough, the fruit degrades, rots or molds.
Dry-processed coffees can also be wildly inconsistent. If you want a cleanly-fruited, sweet, intense cup, dry process (DP) takes more hand labor than the wet process. Even the most careful pickers will take green unripe or semi-ripe coffee off the branch as they pick red, ripe cherry. If these are not removed in the first days of drying, the green turns to brown that is hard to distinguish from the ripe fruit.

Wholesale Orders

We welcome wholesale partners!
If you're a retail store or coffee shop, please Contact Us for more information on any of the coffees you see here.


please note

All orders are shipped on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (excluding national Holidays).
Cut-off time is 11:59pm (UTC+1) of the day before shipping days.