After less than half a year, we have coffee from Los Nogales Farm again. This is the same variety as last year’s competition coffee – Bourbon Pimienta. Oscar has steadied the processing so the coffee is smoother, sweeter and beautifully clean. Moreover, thanks to our good relationship with Oscar, we are the only ones who have this lot in Europe, the rest are sent to Asia and the Middle East.
The Farm:
Los Nogales Farm is a family business, so it is difficult to talk about just one name. But for us, the charismatic Oscar Hernandez, the leader of the project, represents the farm. Oscar is a third generation farmer who grows coffee in the south of the department of Huila, near the town of Bruselas. He is an energetic, always positive and innovative person, not only for his family but also for the wider environment. His father, Ricaurte Hernandez, was the first to prove what we already know today, that in Bruselas you can find the best coffees from all over Colombia. In 2006 he won the Colombian Cup of Excellence and, as the locals say, he got the word out. Ricaurte has “put” Bruselas, and with it the entire department of Huila, on the map of fine coffee. Oscar continues this tradition, and thanks to him and his approach, Los Nogales is a center of innovation and information for all the proactive farmers in the area.
The three pillars of the Finca Los Nogales approach:
1. Terroir – the land gives us life and gives it to the coffee plants that grow on it. Los Nogales is aware of this. If we just exploit the land and don’t take care of it, we will soon have no place to grow coffee. In contrast to intensive farming and the conventional approach to fertilization, the entire Los Nogales team is thinking about long-term sustainability. They are replacing commercial intensive single-component fertilizers with complex organic humus processed from their own coffee processing residues. They are also gradually planting the coffee plants further apart on the plantations, reducing the demands on the land. While less intensive, but also less concentrated and more complex cultivation yields less in the short term, it ensures that in the long term the same land can be used to grow coffee for generations to come.
Bourbon Pimienta is a quite recently discovered variety in Colombia. Originally from Ethiopia. It is interesting for its red fruit flavour, light spiciness and floral notes reminding of the Geisha variety.
Processing:
– Selection of ripe fruit. The process begins with the careful harvesting of only ripe coffee beans. This is the key to obtaining high quality coffee beans, as ripe fruit has optimal flavour and aroma.
– Cleaning and disinfecting with purified water: The harvested coffee beans are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected with treated water. This helps to eliminate impurities and unwanted micro-organisms.
– Density sorting, floating: coffee beans are immersed in water and sorted according to density. Higher density beans tend to sink, while lower density beans float. This helps to separate the good beans from the defective ones.
– Heat shock: The selected grains are subjected to a heat shock of 80°C water for 20 seconds, followed by rapid cooling with cold water for 3 to 5 minutes. This process breaks down the sugars and pasteurises the beans, which contributes to the final taste of the coffee.
– Skinning in a wet mill and addition of sugar: the coffee beans are skinned and placed in fermentation vats. To these are added the sugars obtained by pressing the skins of the coffee cherries themselves. This can improve the flavour profile and add sweet notes to the coffee.
– Fermentation: The coffee beans undergo a fermentation process that lasts 120 hours. During this time, sugars are broken down, affecting the flavour and acidity of the coffee. Pre-fermenting agents are also added, similar to sourdough starter in bread, which can give the coffee unique characteristics.
– Sun drying: Finally, the fermented coffee beans are dried in the sun for 15 days. This step is necessary to reduce the moisture content of the beans to a level suitable for long-term storage and to further develop the coffee’s flavour.
Recipe:
