Colombia Los Guayacanes Chiroso

PRODUCER: Evelio Lasso, Los Guayacanes
REGION: San Pedro de Cartago, Nariño
VARIETY: Chiroso
GRADE: Excelso 15+
PROCESS: Washed
DRYING METHOD: Covered Sun-Dried
ALTITUDE: 1900 meters
FLAVOR: Honey, Raspberry, Baked Apple, Brown Sugar

This Chiroso coffee is from a farmer named Evelio Lasso, in San Pedro de Cartago, Nariño. His 3 hectare farm, Los Guayacanes, is located in the village of Buenos Aires, and boasts an altitude of 1900 meters above sea level. Along with family members in both Nariño, as well as Huila, the Lasso family have a reputation for producing outstanding coffee, placing value on growing unique coffee varieties, and process innovation. This is a Chiroso variety selection, which found its way into the coffee consciousness back in the early 2000's after a farmer from Urrao, Antioquia won first place at the Colombia "Cup of Excellence" competition. Initially thought to be a regression of Bourbon, a recent scientific study has linked this unique variety to Ethiopian landraces, which makes sense given the cup potential. Chiroso can be tea-like and bright, and prone to express fruit and floral accents. This coffee had very nice acidity that helped cultivate juicy flavors in the cup. We found it pushed the boundaries on fruit in wet process coffee, which is due in part to the process method. Evelio "vacuum" ferments his Chiroso coffee in airtight barrels with degas valves. The coffee generally undergoes 40 hours in the barrels before being washed with clean water and dried for upwards of 2 weeks on indoor patios. The process is certainly behind some of the fruit flavors, as well as the yellowish coloring of the raw coffee.

Washed Process Coffee In Colombia

Washed processing has become widely popular but, as its name suggests, can be highly water-intensive. The cup profile of washed coffees tends to reflect the terroir of the coffee. The processing method allows the growing conditions, the region, and the true character of the coffee to shine through.

Colombia Green Coffee Beans

Colombia boasts an extraordinary array of microclimates that all lend themselves to an incredible variety of high-quality coffees. Over half a million families dedicate their livelihoods to producing unroasted Colombia green coffee on small farms that dot the country’s volcanic mountain ranges. As the world’s third-largest producing country, the volume, quality, and variety that comes out of Colombia year-round is staggering.