*RESTOCKED SPECIAL RELEASE* Colombia - Diego Bermudez - K01

LIME, RAISIN, BERGAMOT, MINT

Our 2nd Bermudez release for the year! And like the Lychee lot, another knockout. This is the ‘K01’ process, it’s not one I’ve had before and the result is another unique, ‘what have I just drunk’ cup. Lime and silky raisin are the standout flavours for me, with a mint aroma (that might sound awful, it’s not, it’s great) and citrus fruit on the finish. Every time I come back to this coffee it reveals a new side, I don’t know what else to say. It’s brilliant and a coffee to experience (I cringed writing that, but it’s true).

In terms of roast level, it’s light/medium, I think it absolutely bangs on filter, but also makes for a silly espresso if you have the patience to dial in, filter is my go to for this though. Anyway, I’m off to pray to the gods of coffee (again) for getting this in for me. Cheers, Joel.

THE BEAN AND PROCESSING

Diego Samuel now 39 years old who was born in Bolivar Cauca, has dedicated the last 13 years of his life to growing coffee and to also gaining a deep understanding and knowledge on the processing and production of high-end specialty coffee that is almost unparalleled in the unique flavour and profiles produced.

As part of a tight knit family Diego works on their farm in Cauca. Together they are involved on the pursuit of continual learning and striving to achieve the next level with their processing. They built their own lab on the farm to firstly understand about cupping and roasting so they could then start to curate their own fermentation protocols for them to begin experimenting with. These experiments and novel approach to coffee have allowed to him to soar and exceed winning several awards from 2015 onwards.

As well as being an accomplished cupped Diego has also achieved the CQI level 2 processing course qualification which allowed him to get a base for seeing how cup profiles could be guided depending on microorganisms, ph and temperature.

The Villa Esperanza - Paraiso farm in El Tambo, Cauca sits at 1700 masl and covers 27 ha of land and is planted with Castillo, Colombia, Caturra and geisha. The farm focuses on technology and the critical processes that and intricate in producing coffee of this mark. From the selection to the meticulous drying which is done in a way to mitigate the changeable climatic conditions allowing them to replicate coffees of such high standards.

All these lots selected come from the Castillo variety, which again disproves myths that still question the quality this varietal can produce when the treatment of the raw product is taken into such depth to draw out its light and true potential.

K-01 - Process

The process of this profile begins with the proper harvesting of the coffee cherries, at an optimum point of ripeness. Then the coffee cherries are disinfected with ozone, and they are transferred to the cherry fermentation tanks, in which an anaerobic fermentation process is carried out for 12 hours submerged in water with Saccharomyces cerevisiae culture medium. Then the coffee is pulped, and a cardamom seeds with yeasts are added to produce the precursors of aromas and characteristic flavours of the profile and it is carried recirculation in rotative fermenter.

Then a thermal shock wash process is carried out to fix a greater amount of precursors and seal the coffee for a good drying process. Dried in a dehumidifier to remove humidity, preserving the soft notes of the coffee and avoiding the over-oxidation of the coffee seed and stopping the metabolic processes to avoid overfermentation.