Christmas Brews – Week #2
Available until Wednesday 17th December 

Pink bourbon lot from Jhoan’s family farm Las Flores at around 1650 masl in San Isidro, HuilaThough we first encountered Jhoan close to a decade ago cupping in a SENA lab, we were (re)introduced to him through our long-term friends and partners the Lassos of the El Diviso farm- the Lassos and the Vergaras have shared processing knowledge, tips and tricks, and even share drying and processing infrastructure when both their farms find themselves at capacity.

Jhoan’s parents migrated from Cundinamarca to Huila in the early 90s- they came after an uncle had found success in Huila. Though Huila was a new part of the country for the family, coffee farming was not- Jhoan’s grandparents were coffee producers in the north. The family started with about 15 hectares in total, but they started with just 2 ha in coffee- and grew from there to plant up to 90,000 trees- almost entirely caturra. For the first 15 years or so, the family focused on local markets, and commodity coffees- the specialty coffee industry was still very nascent. In the early 00s, Jhoan’s mother sent a coffee into the Cup of Excellence competition, and though she didn’t win, the family began to focus more on quality, and Jhoan began to learn more about coffee.

At just 15 years old, Jhoan left high school in Pitalito and began to focus on the farm, and on coffee. He began to get curious about coffee- specifically, where it ended up, and who was buying it- and he ended up at the SENA- the Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje, or National Training Service- where many coffee producers learn agronomy, cupping, roasting, and basic brewing skills. At the SENA, Jhoan met Nestor Lasso- which will end up being a crucial friendship and partnership (for the families, and for Shared Source!).

Coffee leaf rust- roya– struck the Vergara family farm hard in 2008, and to combat the fungus, they renovated the farm with varieties that were more rust-resistant, higher yielding, and had good cup quality- starting with tabi, and continuing to plant pink bourbon, gesha, caturra chiroso, maracaturra, red bourbon, etc.
PROCESSING
Jhoan is an accomplished cupper, and every step comes from lots of experimentation to understand the effect of the multiple steps on the end cup profile. For the pink bourbon, first, they pick cherries at optimal ripeness, and then float them to remove under-ripe cherries. From there, cherries are moved to large plastic barrels where the cherries first undergo an anaerobic fermentation step- they’re left in sealed plastic barrels- for 36 hours, and then the cherries are left to continue fermenting in an open air environment (oxidation) for another 12 hours. From there, the cherries are de-pulped, and then they undergo an additional 36 hours of anaerobic fermentation in a sealed vessel with a tube for off-gassing. Finally, the coffee is washed and undergoes a thermal shock- meaning that the coffee is washed with water heated to 50°C and then rapidly cooled using cold water for 30 minutes before dried in a dehumidifying machine for 36 hours.

Jhoan explains that the open air fermentation boosts the profile by intensifying the flavors, and the anaerobic fermentation produces sweet, floral and fruity notes. The thermal shock fixes the aromatic and floral compounds into the bean pores with the heat, and then seals them with the rinse in cold water, which improves cleanliness and can extend the shelf life. To those who are surprised that a cup profile like this can be achieved without a culture washed (mosto) process or without co-ferments, Jhoan says that these flavors are achieved specifically and intentionally through the combination of different fermentation environments and a long-studied understanding of the way that each variety interacts with its environment. He also notes that unlike co-fermented coffees that can often lack acidity and body and complexity throughout the coffee’s hot to cold cycle, the coffees from their farm have nice acidity, structure, body, and notes that change as the temperature changes as well.

PRICING TRANSPARENCY
We purchased parchment coffee directly from Jhoan, and pesos were transferred straight to his bank account upon receipt of parchment at our chosen mill. We pay for transport from Pitalito to the mill in Cauca. We purchased 2200 kg of his pink bourbon in parchment and paid 4,700,000 pesos per carga for it- a carga is 125 kg of parchment coffee.