Colombia

Santa Elena

Sweet red apple and deep caramel

This lot by Angie Lorena Gomez is grown near Planadas in Southern Tolima, and showcases crisp and sweet red apple

The double fermentation washed process allows a crisp red apple character to come through in the cup, alongside a deep caramel sweetness.

Producer
Angie Lorena Gomez
Coffee expression
A fruity & balanced coffee

Regular price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
Sale price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
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The town of Planadas has become a hotspot for high quality coffees in the south of the Tolima region.

Santa Elena

Santa Elena is managed day to day by Angie Lorena Gomez, near to the town of Planadas in Southern Tolima. Although on the border to Huila, Tolima is a much more isolated region, and was heavily affected by the guerrilla conflict with FARC rebels that ran until the peace agreement in 2016. Investment in the region is on the up, with construction and infrastructure projects encouraging growth, alongside packages to encourage the return of agriculture to the area. This has resulted in a hotspot of quality-focussed coffee production, mainly located around Planadas. Some high profile placings in the Cup of Excellence have helped to cement the reputation of coffee in Southern Tolima, driving more coffee buyers to the region than ever before.

Washed Caturra

Processed using a double fermentation

Like many in the region, Angie grows secondary cash crops at Santa Elena, leading both to biodiversity and to a diversification of income streams. Here, there are banana, yucca and lemon trees alongside Caturra, Colombia and Geisha varietal coffee trees. As the farm is still relatively new, having been planted 7 years ago, Angie is still experimenting with processing, keeping traceability of experiments through the chain in order to taste and slowly hone protocols for the future.

This lot of Caturra was processed using a double fermentation, typical for Huila and Tolima. Cherries are first fermented for 24 hours, before being de-pulped and fermented for a further 44 with mucilage still attached, before being washed thoroughly and dried on raised beds. This double fermentation, although it adds to the ripe fruit character in the cup, is necessitated by the cool conditions here, allowing the time for yeast and enzymes to break down the mucilage to a point where it can be washed off completely. This allows a crisp red apple character to come through in the cup, alongside a deep caramel sweetness.

Technical Data

Producer
Angie Lorena Gomez
Region
Nariño
Altitude
2000 masl
Varietal
Caturra
Process
Washed
Harvest
October 2022

Washed Process

The washed process involves completely removing both the cherry and the mucilage from the outside of the parchment with the use of friction, fermentation and water. After being harvested, the coffee cherry is then sliced open by either a metal or a sharp plastic blade.

The two seeds (also known as beans) are pushed out of the cherry, which leaves the seed with mucilage as their outermost layer. It is essential in the washed process that all mucilage is removed from the seed which leaves only the flavour that developed in the cell structure of the seed prior to processing.