Very Special
It’s the second time we feature this crazy, innovative, limited lot (last time was in January 2024). This time is a Caturra variety, and the fermentation process is slightly different (but still related to the use of Mosto or Mossto).
What’s Mossto, you ask? Mossto is the term used (taken from the wine industry, and which literally means grape juice in Spanish). In this case, it refers to the coffee juice. This, like all the other juices, contains sugars and yeasts that act as a catalyst, accelerating, driving and enhancing chemical reactions during the fermentation process.
The result is crazy, vibrant, floral… crazy! Very different from the classy, washed lots we tend to love and feature often. So, for this reason, it deserves a place in our VS shelf.
A beautiful field
Finca Campo Hermoso is located in the Colombian department of Quindío. It’s owned and run by Edwin Noreña, a third-generation farmer, Q grader and agroindustrial engineer.
Very early on, he saw the potential of specialty coffee and transitioned his farm and system to produce into this side of the coffee market; at Finca Hermoso, they started producing high-quality and innovative lots that would later earn international recognition due to their placement in competitions.
Edwin is one of many small producers who work with the Santuario Project, which sources the most exceptional lots to market to clients who appreciate the story and effort behind them.
Over the last several years, Edwin has teamed up with Camilo Merizalde of The Santuario Project fame to build an innovative coffee partnership that’s pushed fermentation and processing techniques to dizzying new heights.
Natural mossto co-fermentation process
1. Harvest and screening The coffee cherries are harvested when they’re at the perfect ripe point—in this case, this is measured, so their sugar concentrations should go beyond 20°Bx.
°Bx, Degrees Brix or, more commonly, Brix is a measure of the dissolved solids in a liquid. It is commonly used in the wine, sugar, carbonated beverage, fruit juice, fresh produce, maple syrup and honey industries to measure the dissolved sugar content of an aqueous solution. For example, 1°Bx (or 1 Brix) is 1g of sucrose in 100g solution.
2. Initial 24h carbonic maceration/anaerobic fermentation. The perfectly ripe cherries undergo an initial 24h carbonic maceration (also known as anaerobic natural fermentation with intact cherries—not crushed) at 18-20°C.
3. Secondary 48h carbonic maceration/anaerobic fermentation with mosto. At the Campo Hermoso R&D Centre, a carbonic maceration is carried out for 48h, collecting the ‘mosto’/mossto (juice), which is then made into a starter culture with inoculated yeast, glucose solution, and other juices.
4. 72h partially submerged co-fermentation with mossto. This mixture is poured into the coffee along with fruit pulp and nuts in a 30% submerged fermentation for 72 hours.
5. Drying. The coffee is dried in the sun in a greenhouse for 10 days, stabilised with dried pulp for 10 days and cleaned. After a final stabilisation of 10 to 15 days, the coffee is cupped and organised into batches.
