Country: Colombia
Region: Ciudad Bolivar, Antioquia
5° 32' 22.501" N 75° 51' 15.0646" W
Farm: La Luisa
Farmer/Grower: Juan Pablo y Familia Velez
Varieties: Yellow and Red Caturra
Processing: Experimental Carbonic Macerated Natural
Altitude: 1800 m.a.s.l.
Humidity: 11.8%
Density: 1.11 g/ml
Harvest Date: March, 2022
Arrival Date: September, 2022
Marks: 003-0685-0060
SCA Cupping Score: 86.0
and his results just keep getting better and better!
Oxygen is pumped out with CO2 and the cherry is allowed to ferment for 168 hours! After the carbonic maceration is deemed complete, the cherries are removed and dried on raised beds as a natural for 20 more days.
Finca La Luisa is located in the small town of Bolívar in the Southwest corner of Antioquia. Juan Pablo is one of the very few coffee growers in the area that is experimenting with carbonic maceration! Carbonic maceration is a type of anaerobic fermentation. “Anaerobic” simply means no oxygen is in contact with the coffee as it ferments. Carbonic macerated coffee is usually fermented in a stainless steel tank and carbon dioxide is actually pumped into the tank so there is some pressure inside the tank. The technique is being influenced by oenologists who have great expertise in fermentation. The idea is to promote fermentation at a cellular level inside of the fruit. Less alcohols are usually produced, which enables a producer to extend fermentation times without getting a "boozy" flavor.
“Everything starts with a dream, with a seed. In my story the dream is literally a seed. This story begins many, many years ago. Being the fourth generation of coffee producers, I could say that I am not starting from scratch in the sense of the word, but from the point of view of what is happening now with specialty coffees, I am starting from scratch. And I say this because in this business there is nothing written yet. One way or another we are transforming the business. The old problems always exist, they are nothing new. The weather is still a headache. Before it was too. Let's say it's worse now but we have to deal with it. The fluctuation of prices remains the same, productivity, pests... What is new for me, and for many specialty coffee producers, is the tireless search for excellence, for consistency, for finding suitable adaptability for new seeds without giving up. Waiting 3 years to find out if the project for a new plantation meets expectations, not only of mine but also of my clients, of consumers and coffee lovers from many parts of the world. Yes, of the world. These seeds I grow travel thousands of miles and are enjoyed or hated by people far and wide. Processing coffee is not easy either, we play at being alchemists. To look for that unique and perfect flavor that sometimes does not exist. That is in our mind, in our ideal. After perfecting some processes, we find enormous satisfaction knowing that we are doing our job very well when, due to the ease of communication via social networks, a complete stranger writes to us to congratulate us on our work as coffee producers and designers. It is a huge team that is behind all this. I am simply the visible face of a multitude of hands through which these emerald green grains pass.”
-Juan Pablo, when asked to share about his history as a coffee grower and processor.