Colombia. Ombligon. Natural. 

Every bean has a story
An amazing and relatively unknown coffee variety grown in Colombia - Ombligon comes from renowned producer Nestor Lasso. Interest in this coffee is growing, especially after this year's WBC!

About Nestor Lasso

This amazing lot comes from a renowned producer, Nestor Lasso of Colombia. Every coffee he produces is a unique and indulgent experience. His farming and process practices, plus a range of exotic coffee varieties (Ombligon, Gesha, Sidra, Chiroso, Pink Bourbon) are the perfect combination for greatness in every cup.

He runs Finca El Diviso in Huila, Pitalito, Colombia. In 2018, Nestor Lasso and his brother Adrian took over the family farm and branched out into specialty coffee and experimentation. Today, the two brothers have teamed up with Jhoan Vergara, also the child of a coffee farmer, to merge their family farms to create El Diviso.

Ombligon Variety

Ombligon Coffee Variety is an Ethiopian landrace, cultivated in Huila, Colombia. It has great potential due to its Ethiopian genetics, which truly show in the cup. The cherry is elongated and has a belly button shape on the base. Which is why it called by locals Ombligon (Belly button in Spanish!).

Ombligon has similar characteristics to Caturra, such as wide leaves, cherries which grow close together, branches which grow vertically, and high yields. However, many Colombian coffee professionals agree that Ombligon could be a natural mutation of other varieties like Pacamara, Bourbon, or even Castillo. This is mostly because of the high yield potential and resistance to coffee leaf rust.

 

Processing

They pick the cherries at optimal maturity stage, with brix degrees ranging between 21 - 24 degrees. They then put them into open plastic tanks and leave them to oxidize for 48 hours. During these 48 hours, the coffee mosto (juice or extract produced during the oxidation) is constantly recirculated. The coffee must be monitored and analyzed to make sure that it is at 19 brix degrees and that the Ph doesn’t fall under 5.

After that, all cherries go in a tank of cold water and the ones that stay afloat (unripe, lower density, broca infected etc.) are manually removed. They then rinse the cherries with water heated at 50° c. This is to cause thermal shock and loosen their molecular structure and kickstart the fermentation process before transferring them into airtight plastic bins to start their anaerobic process. Before closing the lid of the tank, they spray brewers’ yeast on the cherries at a ratio of 1:5 (1 gr yeast / 5kg cherries) diluted in 32°c water. The cherries are left fermenting for 38 hours whilst endemic microorganisms and the added yeast multiply.

Next, they mechanically dry the cherries for approximately 12 hours to quickly dehydrate and reach 18% moisture content. Then they place them in closed plastic bags and leave them to stabilize for 2 days in a dark room. Finally, they place the cherries in marquesinas to finish the drying process for approximately 15 days until they reach 10.5-11.5% moisture content.

 

You don't wanna miss this unique variety from Colombia! Another great coffee from Nestor Lasso is Aji Bourbon - check it out!