ESPRESSO ~ Los Guacharos | Huila, Colombia

About Guacharos

This crew of producers are working to rewrite the script as independent producers working as a collective, converting to organic ag, making their own soil amendments, treating waste water with stone/sand filtration systems and planting plenty of shade diversity. It’s common to visit a farm and they’re brewing a chemex or V60 of their latest crop for you with a good quality handmill. You’d feel right at home.

Processing

Cherries are left to begin the initial fermentation process in sealed plastic bags, then depulped the next day, where they’re left to continue fermenting. Some producers use sealed plastic barrels with one-way valves for off-gassing, and a few producers are using open-air tanks. Coffees ferment for 36-48 hours (on average), before they’re washed. Each producer has a different routine, but many dry on raised beds or shaded drying patios. Parchment coffee is stored in grain pro bags at home to ensure that humidity is stable at around 10.5%. Their collective efforts result in a classic sweet profile, nutty, milk chocolate and buttery with orange-like acid and welcome fruitless – due to it being a producer blend there are some brews with a more intense baklava-like pastry and floral rosewater flavour that we affectionately refer to as ‘rosewater roulette’.

Field Blend

A few harmonious varieties like Caturra, Tabi, Variedad Colombia that work well for the folks who are part of this association.

Espresso

We’re enjoying this one with a 1:2.5 ratio pulling in 19-25 seconds on our setup

9 bar flat profile
93C – Vancouver Municipal Water (low ppm)
21.5g. dose in Weber Unibasket : 54g. out
EK43s stock burrs