Colombia El Diviso - Ombligon

One of the most exciting parts of our 2022 trip to origin in Colombia was meeting Nestor Lasso in Huila, the heart of Bruselas. Not only was this a long sought and well deserved ending to a days long journey with Cata & Pierre, but it was also an inspiring beginning.

Nestor, who is only 22, spends most of his time in the town centre, in the main coffee cooperatives, roasting samples, cupping, learning and meeting people. No doubt, he is the Sales guy in the family. That is how we met him, that is how we became acquainted with his passion and that is how we became good friends.

On the other hand, his brother Adrian, 24, spends all his time at the farm helping his dad Jose at the mill centre. He reads, does researches and experiments at the farm, challenging tradition with ideas and understanding fermentation and all other natural processes.

Basically, they take conventional codes of coffee production, twist them, experiment with exotic varieties, micro-organisms, fermentation methods and bold ideas. Nestor’s drive for novelty inspired us not only to buy his coffee, but to be more involved in the areas he needed help the most.

This is one of the first direct trade relationships we’ve established in Huila through our partners at the origin Cata Export and we’ve enjoyed it since 2019. 

Process:

Step 1. The cherries are hand picked and selected to reach a optimal maturity stage.

Step 2. The cherries are put into an open plastic tank and left oxidising for 48h. During these 48h the coffee must (juice or extract produced during the oxidation) is consistently being recirculated. The coffee must is monitored and analysed to make sure that it is at 19 brix degree and then the PH doesn't fall under 5.

Step 3. All the cherries are emptied in a tank of cold water and the ones that stay afloat (unripe, lower density, broca infected, etc..) are manually removed. 

Step 4. The cherries are then rinsed with water heated at 50°C (thermal shock) to loosen their molecular structure and kickstart the fermentation into airtight plastic bins to start their anaerobic process.

Step 5. The cherries are then mechanically fried for approximately 12h to dehydrate as fast as possible and reach 18% moisture content.

Step 6. The cherries are placed in closed plastic bags and left to stabilise for 2 days in a dark room.

Step 7. The cherries are place in marquesinas to finish the drying process for approximately 15 days until reaching 10.5-11.5% moisture.