PREORDERS OPEN COFFEE WILL BEGIN SHIPPING DECEMBER 10th

Tasting Notes: Tropical Fruits, Cereal Milk, Complex

Variety: Pink Bourbon

Process:  Thermal Shock Washed

Overview

Situated at around 1650 MASL in the heart of San Isidro, Huila, Colombia, lies the beautiful Las Flores, Jhoan’s family farm. Shared Source (our importing partner who we purchased this coffee through) was first introduced to Jhoan over a decade ago, they were recently (re)introduced to him via another producer family they work with, the Lassos of the El Diviso farm.  This is because the Vergaras share drying infrastructure with the Lassos when both their farms are at full capacity during production.  This also allows them to share tips and tricks and knowledge of successful outcomes of coffee processing, especially when experimenting with different processing techniques, as we’ll highlight more below.  

Family History

Jhoan’s parents first came to Huila in the early 90’s migrating from Cundinamarca.  Jhoan’s grandparents were actually coffee producers in the northern part of Huila, way back in the day, so the family was excited to return to their roots in a way, and try their hand at producing coffee themselves.  The family started with a 15 hectare farm but only 2 hectares were coffee.  From this humble beginning, eventually came 90,000 coffee trees strong, almost entirely of the caturra variety, prized for its high cup quality often yielding bright citrus acidity and great developed caramels.  Its compact plant size also makes it easier to harvest from in the high and steep hillsides of Colombia, as well as its potential to have quite a high yield for such a small plant.  Caturra though, is easily subject to a devastating fungus known as “coffee leaf rust”, which we will touch more on later.

For the first 15 years or so of coffee production, the Vergaras mostly sold to the commodity market (as the specialty market was not quite as developed as it is today), though the family also sold their coffee in local Colombian markets at this time as well.  In the early 00’s Jhoan’s mother sent a coffee to the local Cup of Excellence competition, and though she didn’t win, this really inspired the family to make more of a shift towards quality coffee production.  This especially inspired young Jhoan.

Jhoan

At just 15 years old Jhoan left school in Pitalito and began to focus his efforts solely on the family farm, and specifically the coffee production and processing side of things.  He also got curious about where his coffee and other specialty coffees were going, and who was buying and roasting them.  He ended up at SENA in Colombia, which is essentially a national training service, focused on Colombian coffee and coffee production.  Many local producers go here to learn all kinds of things about coffee and the industry, from agronomy, to roasting and cupping, as well as basic brewing techniques and barista skills.  This is also where Jhoan met Nestor Lasso from the aforementioned Lasso family.

Rising Above Challenges

In 2008, tragedy struck the family farm in the form of roya, also known as coffee leaf rust.  This is a disease that specifically affects the green leaves on coffee plants.  It's a type of fungus that causes orange and yellowish (rust colored) spots all over the leaves, stopping photosynthesis, not allowing the coffee plants to develop to their full potential.  It is super unfortunate and extremely devastating to farmers and their crop, which is their livelihood.  Fortunately Jhoan and his family were able to navigate through this hard time by completely renovating their farm with varieties of coffee that are more resistant to coffee leaf rust like Pink Bourbon, Gesha, Caturra Chiroso, Maracaturra, Red Bourbon as well as a few others.  

Particular Processing

Jhoan is an accomplished cupper with an incredible palate.  He recognizes that every single step and  intervention in the processing of the coffee post harvest has an effect on the end result of what the consumer will taste in their cup.  For his prized Pink Bourbon the cherries are picked at optimal ripeness, and then immediately floated to remove any under-ripe cherries.  From there, whole intact cherries are moved to large plastic barrels where they will undergo their first fermentation which is anaerobic (without oxygen).  The cherries are left sealed in these large barrels for 36 hours and then moved to an open air environment for an additional 12 hours, allowing some oxidation to take place.  From here, cherries are de-pulped and then left to ferment for an additional 36 hours in another anaerobic environment.  This time the coffee seeds still in their parchment form are sealed in a smaller vessel with a tube for off-gassing, much like you might see in home beer or kombucha brewing.  After this additional 36 hour fermentation, the coffee is then finally washed and then immediately undergoes Jhoan’s signature “thermal shock” protocol.  This means the coffee is washed with water at 50℃ (around 122℉) and then rapidly cooled using cold water for about 30 minutes. He then moves the coffee to a large dehumidifying machine to dry for about 36 hours, until optimal moisture content and water activity is achieved. 

Explanation of Fermentations & Thermal Shock

Jhoan explains each part of his meticulous processing, detailing how each step contributes to the incredible final results in the cup.  The open air fermentation boosts the overall profile of the cup by intensifying the overall flavors found inherent in the coffee.  The anaerobic steps in the fermentation process boost the overall sweetness, specifically the fruity and floral notes.  Then, the thermal shock fixes the aromatic and floral compounds into the bean pours with the presence of heat from the warm water.  The cold shock rinse helps seal in those flavors by quickly closing the pores of the coffee seed with that icy cold water.  This cold water rinse of the coffee at the very end of processing, just before drying, also improves the overall cleanliness of the coffee and can help extend the shelf life as well.  Jhoan says many folks who taste his coffee are surprised that he achieves these results without the use of any co-fermentations or added cultures, he simply explains that his results are achieved through specificity and intentionality, after much experimentation, and finally understanding how different varieties of coffee interact differently with their environment and how they all stand up differently to different processing methods.  He also notes that many co-fermented coffees on the market can lack a nuanced acidity or have a lack of body and complexity as the coffee cools.  This is not the case with coffees from his farm.  His coffees possess incredible depth and complexity that continue to transform in the cup as the coffee cools.  This coffee is truly spectacular!  Grab a bag and taste for yourself!

This coffee was purchased in parchment directly from the producer by our good friends at Shared Source Green Coffee Agency.  They then facilitated the dry milling process and preparation for export.