Colombia El Vergel Koji Java (150g)
Red apple, blackberry compote, Roiboos tea, watermelon, Cantaloupe, Raspberry in the aromas and flavor. Juicy bright acidity. Smooth and round. The sweet tart finish resonates with lilac, cocoa and champagne cream.
FARM: El Vergel
This coffee is produced in the El Vergel farm in Fresno, Tolima, by the brothers Shady & Elias Bayter, who have been involved in farming from childhood, following the steps of their parents, who started as avocado growers. The experience of growing up in the countryside created a strong bond between the brothers, farming and the region where they grew up. In 2012, they ventured into the world of coffee and fell in love with it. Immense dreams around coffee were born. Two years later, they discovered the specialty coffee movement and that's when they found the direction they wanted for El Vergel and for themselves to pursue.
In 2016, after several years of researching coffee varieties, appropriate climates and soils, the Bayter brothers kickstarted a varietal project at Finca El Vergel. The farm has a special microclimate thanks to the proximity to the snow-capped volcano Nevado del Ruiz, on whose slopes El Vergel is located.
The farm is located in the beautiful Departament of Tolima spanning across the mountains in Colombia. Colombia boasts 11 different altitudes, each containing a unique flavor palate, that is unrivaled anywhere else in the world. Our farm rests on El Vergel, or Black Mountain, an inactive volcano that has created some of the most nutrient rich soil for planting.
Each and every green coffee bean is single-origin, hand-picked, and carefully inspected by one of our tenured pickers.
We got this coffee directly from the El Vergel farm.
About El Vergel Koji
PRODUCER:Shady & Elias Bayter
TERROIR:Tolima
ALTITUDE:1800 m
PROCESS:Koji Natural
ARRIVED IN:24 kilo Vaccumed
VARIETIES:Java
AROMA:Watermelon , Champagne
FLAVOR:Raspberry, Blackberry, Red apple, Cantaloupe
BODY:Round
FINISH:Lilac, Cocoa, Roiboos tea
This Java is a very rare variety in Colombia, and in this case, it is a coffee located facing the snowy mountain "El Ruiz" and is part of a micro-lot from EL VERGEL. Planted in 2016 with a quantity of 9.200 plants, this micro lot has been one of the most exotic of the estate developing totally unique profiles. For this specific profile, is processed with an extended anaerobic fermentation with an additional step which introduces water to stabilize the temperature of the fermentation process, and dried at the sun for an extended period of time with 4 stalls during the process to enhance the profile being to obtain a unique yellow explosive fruit profile with a complex body.. This java was processed with a +95% of optimum mature cherry, which helped us developing an extended anaerobic fermentation, followed by a slow drying at the sun with the help of Koji Yeast.
Koji Yeast Process
This coffee was a collaborative effort of coffee people across the globe. Their Java variety was fermented with the aid of MSCO-11 Koji (a rice wine starter). This is evenly spread and coated around the coffee cherries before their natural process begins. This influences the active microbiome during the natural drying phase.
The result is vibrant and intriguing, with delicious fruit notes we taste as Mango, Raspberry and Watermelon. Special thanks to the Bayter Family, Christopher Feran, and Kaapo Paavolainen for allowing us to share this incredible coffee with you!
More About Koji
Koji fermentation is unique—rather than producing alcohol or carbon dioxide or organic acids, koji has the ability to transform its substrate differently than yeast or bacteria. Depending on the fermentation conditions, koji produces varying ratios of both amino acids like glutamate as well as amylase enzyme, which can saccharify the starches in something like rice, making them available for fermentation by yeast into sake. The ratios at which each metabolic byproduct is produced depends on the strain of koji as well as temperature. For example, MSCO-11, produced and sold by Higuchi, modulates between higher production of amylase at warmer temperatures and higher production of amino acids at the lower end of its temperature range.
While wheat and saccharomyces cerevisiae exist at the center of European culinary traditions, products fermented using koji are central to the culinary traditions in Japan and China, with miso and shoyu and rice vinegar and sake and mirin made through centuries-old practices playing a starring role. Though we do consume these products and though they are increasingly available in mainstream Main Street markets and grocery stores across the U.S., koji itself remains somewhat unknown in the Western Hemisphere.
