Colombia - Luz Helena - 200hrs Anaerobic Fermentation

While we eagerly anticipate the arrival of this year's Fresas lot, we're excited to introduce a special coffee from Colombia that stood out during our cupping session. This lot also hails from the same farm as the Fresas Lot, Jardines El Eden.This particular Castillo variety is grown at an elevation of 1900 meters above sea level on Finca Jardines del Eden in Quindio, Colombia. Quindio, nestled within the Andes Mountains, is a picturesque region known for its coffee production, forming the backbone of its economy. Luz Helena Salazar, the matriarch of the Arcila Family, boasts over three decades of experience in coffee cultivation and is a staunch advocate for Colombian-grown coffee. In addition to her coffee farming endeavors, she manages farms that produce other commodities such as avocados and oranges. This single estate coffee undergoes a meticulous 200-hour anaerobic fermentation process. During the harvest, a rigorous selection process ensures that only ripe cherries are picked. These selected cherries are then placed inside a sealed tank and fermented for nearly 9 days, precisely 200 hours. The fermentation temperature is carefully controlled at a constant 20°C throughout this period to prevent over-fermentation, which could affect the flavor profile. After the 9-day fermentation, the cherries are transferred to raised beds and dried until they reach the ideal moisture level of 11% before hulling. Following hulling, the coffee is meticulously sorted based on size using a sieve and undergoes mechanical sorting to remove any over-fermented beans.