Chiroso Las Flores Colombia. Caturra Chiroso. Natural. 

Every bean has a story
An amazing and rare Caturra Chiroso from Finca Las Flores in Colombia.

About Johan Vergara

This amazing lot comes from a renowned producer, Johan Vergara of Colombia. He runs a 180 acre farm, Finca Las Flores, with the help of his family. The area's microclimate (1800 masl) in the Huila region has a high range of temperatures - cold at night and hot in the daytime. This stresses the plants which makes them stronger over time and creates increased mucilage which in turn leads to more glucose in the fruit. This is a major catalyst for the success of Johan for his extended and experimental fermentation of recent years.

Johan's family started farming coffee in 1990, initially planting 18,000 trees - this has now grown to over 90,000! Today, siblings and fourth generation coffee producers Johan and Carlos manage the day to day operations. Johan is involved in quality control and relationships with local cooperatives, while Carlos and Diego are in charge of coffee processing and agronomy.

Since being featured in the 2006 Cup Of Excellence, Johan has transformed the quality of coffee from the Finca Las Flores farm by planting exotic varietals including Pink Bourbon, Tabi, Sidra and Wush Wush. These varietals are very difficult to produce consistently, as each require different conditions and care to flourish, and are generally are more susceptible to disease and produce much lower yields than average.

This development, compounded with investments in processing and exploration of controlled fermentations, have really made this lot particularly special.

 

Variety

Chiroso is a relatively new variety, which originated in the Urrao region of Antioquia (Urrao), Colombia. It is a mutation of an Ethiopian Landrace. Such a rare variety to find. It stands out both in the appearance of elongated beans as well as it sensory traits. The term 'chiroso' refers to the shape of the coffee fruit, which resembles an achira (a traditional cake in some regions of Colombia). Chiroso's unique and varied cups suggest an exotic coffee. It is a nutritionally demanding coffee. It needs to be harvested at least four times a year, but it more than makes up for this with its high productivity.

 

Processing

Johan Vergara is carefully selecting ripe coffee cherries with 24-26 degree brix. They remain 60 hours in oxidation in plastic drums. After that they go through a 50-degree thermal shock before sealing the plastic drums for an 80-hour anaerobic fermentation. Finally, they placed them under the sun in so called “marquesinas” (canopies) to dry naturally.

You don't wanna miss this unique caturra chiroso variety from Colombia!