Origin - Colombia

Region - El Pedregal, Huila

Process - Natural with a 60h anoxic fermentation

Producer - Juan Camilo Castiblanco, Finca Flandes

Altitude - 1500m

Variety - Pink Bourbon

Tasting notes - Kir Royal / cane sugar / walnut

Juan Camilo Castiblanco is a young 33 years old and the third generation of a coffee-growing family. He has grown up immersed in coffee culture, which has made him develop a deep love for the countryside and in particular for coffee. Since 2015, he has embarked on his path in the production of specialty coffee, constantly seeking to improve his processes to offer products of the highest quality. The Flandes farm, located in the village of El Pedregal, is at an altitude of 1500m.

Juan Camilo has one hectare cultivated in Supremo and Pink Bourbon varietals. His production process includes a 60-hour anoxic water pillow fermentation, followed by traditional drying. With this dedication and care in each stage of the process, Juan Camilo strives to provide his clients with a coffee of excellence.

Once cherries are harvested, they are hand-sorted and floated to ensure only those of the best quality continue to the processing stage. These cherries are placed into a sterilised fermentation tank, which is hermetically sealed. Fresh, cold water is then poured on top of the sealed coffee. The seal created by the water pressing onto the sheeting creates a vacuum effect on the coffee below, creating an anoxic environment for fermentation to begin.

The water and sheet also act as a heat exchange, allowing the heat build up to transfer to the water, which then evaporates. A stabilised temperature of around 25c ensures that the cherry doesn’t over-ferment. This temperature is regularly monitored, and if it falls too low for fermentation to continue, hot water is added to the water pillow, providing warmth to the fermenting coffee underneath.

Once the fermentation is complete, the coffee is rinsed and drained of all residual liquid, then dried slowly on raised beds.