Nestor Lasso - Bourbon Aji
Description
MEET THE PRODUCER | At ages 23 and 25 years old, Nestor and his brother, Adrian, are some of the youngest players in the game right now! They partnered with a fellow son-of-a-coffee-farmer, Jhoan Vergara, to create the farm known as El Diviso, where today's Bourbon Aji lot was grown. Though their parents were commodity coffee farmers, Nestor & co. have taken a profound interest in specialty coffee production, in part because of its potential for real economic development - but also because they each have a passion for coffee production in general and experimental processes (like thermal shock!) in particular. By combining their knowledge and experience to improve production quality, Nestor, Adrian, and Jhoan hope to help other farmers and producers see that coffee is "a much more noble product than perhaps it seems."
TRUST THE PROCESS | After being handpicked at peak ripeness, the coffee cherries are floated to remove lower-density beans before undergoing 24-32 hours of anaerobic fermentation in sealed plastic bags. Then, they are removed and pulped into a hopper for oxidation for six hours. The mucilage is collected so that it can be reunited with the cherries as they undergo a second round of fermentation for 28-32 hours, after which time they are washed with hot water (cue the thermal shock) and spread out to canopy-dry for 16-25 days.
TAKE A SIP | Particularly on the competition stage, Nestor is known for his big, fruity flavor profiles, but this coffee represents a very different style being produced at El Diviso. It has a flavor profile reminiscent of a perfectly crafted Moscow Mule: herbal and floral (like lemongrass), spicy (like ginger beer), and citric (like lime). It isn't loud or boozy, but it is wine-like in profile, reminding us of a vibrant, aromatic white wine from Vinho Verde.
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Origin | Bruselas, Huila, Colombia
Producer | Nestor Lasso
Farm | El Diviso
Process | Thermal Shock
Variety | Bourbon Aji
Elevation | 1750 masl
