El Vergel

Description

[archived]

Tastes Like: Nori, Grapefruit, Green Apple

Origin: El Vergel, Tolima, Colombia

Variety: Pink Bourbon

Producer: Elias and Shady Bayter

Elevation: 1550 masl

Process: Koji Supernatural

Farm and Producer

Finca El Vergel is the Bayter family’s farm in Fresno, Tolima. Martha Bayter and her sons, Elias and Shady, developed coffee production there after years in agriculture. Their processing work includes Koji Supernatural, which introduces a cultivated fungal starter to ripe coffee cherries.

Variety

Pink Bourbon is a pink-ripening Arabica selection associated with Colombian specialty coffee. Genetic testing of coffees sold under this name has found Ethiopian ancestry, so the name alone does not establish a Bourbon cross or a uniform genetic identity.

Processing

El Vergel’s Koji Supernatural method uses Aspergillus oryzae, the fungus cultivated to make koji. A starter grown on rice is dried and powdered, then applied to coffee cherries on raised beds. Oxygen is available during this stage so the culture can develop and produce enzymes that change the compounds available during fermentation.

The cherries are then dried with their fruit intact. Fermentation and drying are managed together, with the fungal treatment adding another influence on aroma, sweetness and texture.

Text from Hydrangea Coffee Roasters' listing.