Finca El Vergel (Colombia) - 250g
  • Finca El Vergel (Colombia) - 250g
  • Finca El Vergel (Colombia) - product

Colombia

Finca El Vergel

QUALITY SCORE: 87.75

Cup Notes
Green Apple / Honey / Orange / Marzipan

Suggested for espresso and filter


when we roast

We freshly roast to order all coffees on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (excluding national holidays), and ship the same day! Cut-off time is 11:59pm (UTC+1) of the day before the roast day. *We only ship whole beans*

Details

Quality Score
87.75
Series
Specialty
Producer
Elias & Shady Bayter
Country
Colombia
Terroir
Tolima
Altitude
1450 masl
Process
Classic Washed - Raised Beds
Arabica cultivar
Caturra
Picked in
July 2021
Arrived in
February 2022
Shipped in
Jute + GrainPro
Roast profile by
Rubens Gardelli
Roasted on
Customised solid-drum roaster

THE STORY BEHIND

This coffee is produced in the El Vergel farm in Fresno, Tolima, by the brothers Shady & Elias Bayter, who have been involved in farming from childhood, following the steps of their parents, who started as avocado growers.

The experience of growing up in the countryside created a strong bond between the brothers, farming and the region where they grew up. In 2012, they ventured into the world of coffee and fell in love with it. Immense dreams around coffee were born. Two years later, they discovered the specialty coffee movement and that's when they found the direction they wanted for El Vergel and for themselves to pursue.

In 2016, after several years of researching coffee varieties, appropriate climates and soils, the Bayter brothers kickstarted a varietal project at Finca El Vergel. The farm has a special microclimate thanks to the proximity to the snow-capped volcano Nevado del Ruiz, on whose slopes El Vergel is located. 

Finca El Vergel (Colombia) - story

THE VARIETY

Caturra coffee varietal was developed by the Alcides Carvalho Coffee Center of the IAC, Instituto Agronomico of the Sao Paulo State in Brazil. 
In 1937, IAC received seed samples of genetic material originated on the border of the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. The samples came from Red Caturra and yellow Caturra cultivars. These two cultivars originated by natural mutation of Bourbon Red, originally a tall coffee shrub, found in the Serra do Caparaó , which is now a mountainous National Park north east of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
This is the first naturally occurred coffee mutation found, with small size and high yield capacity. Red and Yellow Caturra are characterised by the cherries sitting close to each other on the coffee shrub. These varietals have excellent cup quality, because they are very close genetically to the Bourbon varietal.

Finca El Vergel (Colombia) - variety

THE FERMENTATION PROCESS

Classic Washed coffees showcase solely the bean. They let you taste you what’s on the inside, not the outside. Washed coffees depend almost 100% on the bean having absorbed enough natural sugars and nutrients during its growing cycle. This means the varietal, soil, weather, ripeness, fermentation, washing, and drying are absolutely key.
Washed coffees reflect both the science of growing the perfect coffee bean and the fact that farmers are an integral part of crafting the taste of a coffee bean. When looking at washed coffees, it becomes apparent that the country of origin and environmental conditions play a vital role in adding to the flavour.

During wet processing, the pulp (i.e.the exocarp and a part of the mesocarp) is removed mechanically. The remaining mesocarp, called mucilage, sticks to the parchment and is also removed before drying. During this process, the sugars present in the mucilage are removed through natural fermentation or mechanical scrubbing. Mucilage is insoluble in water and clings to parchment too strongly to be removed by simple washing. Mucilage can be removed by fermentation followed by washing or by strong friction in machines called mucilage removers. Fermentation can be done by stacking the coffee outside or placing it under water and allowing nature to take its course. After the sugars are removed, the beans then can be taken through a secondary washing to remove any additional debris, or taken immediately to the beds for drying.

This coffee in particular was picked at an optimum cherry maturity of more than 92% with a brix of 21 (High for this elevation), then it was Pre-Fermented for 12 hours, followed by 24 hours of aerobic fermentation in mucilage, then sun-dried for 15 days, and finished in mechanical dryers at 40 degrees Celsius to achieve optimum moisture level.

Finca El Vergel (Colombia) - fermentation

MORE INFO

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