Brothers Nestor and Adrian Lasso work together managing El Diviso, a farm high in the mountains of the Huila region of Colombia. Still in their early 20’s, the brothers are young, yet growing up on the family farm has them extremely familiar with the world of coffee. In 2019 they took over the operations on the farm and began working hard to improve the quality of coffee being produced. With help from local farmers and producers, and attending the best coffee growing school in Latin America, they have attained a vast knowledge in coffee growing, processing, and production. Now, with the farm in their control they have focused their efforts on experimentation; they utilize specialty varieties and innovative processing methods to create extraordinary taste profiles.

This lot of Sidra is a perfect showcase of their dedication to innovation and quality processing, creating a coffee that is candy-like and hyper-fruity. In the cup we find a prominent red fruit acidity reminding us of perfectly ripe strawberries or raspberries, alongside floral qualities like rosewater and vanilla. This is accentuated by a syrupy, over the top sweetness reminiscent of canned lychees!

Natural Anaerobic Process
The brothers begin the process by taking ripe coffee cherries, washing them, and then placing them into sealed containers alongside water and yeast to kickstart the fermentation. This anaerobic environment (meaning without air) helps the yeast to thrive, and the cherries are fermented for 80 hours. Anaerobic fermentations tend to create coffees that are addictively juicy and fruit forward which, when paired with a natural process, creates an exceptionally flavourful coffee. After fermentation the cherries go through multiple washing and sorting steps to ensure only quality coffee makes it to the cup. Finally the cherries are dried, first with three days in the sun, then finished in mechanical driers.

It was 80 years and 5 generations ago when the Hernandez family arrived at the village of El Diamante in Huila, Colombia, with the goal of finding fertile land to plant the first seeds of the Los Nogales farm. As the family and the farm grew, it became clear that the passion and dedication of one person stood out; the youngest of 8 sons, Ricaurte Hernandez. Born on the farm in 1952, Ricaurte would soon realize his passion for specialty coffee and become one of the most renowned producers in Colombia. Throughout the years, Ricaurte worked to produce and innovate specialty coffee in the area, showcasing the potential of the land in Huila. All of his dedication would come to fruition in 2005 at the Colombian Cup of Excellence competition, in which Los Nogales would be awarded first place, truly cementing Huila as a nucleus for specialty coffee.

In the year 2013, Ricaurte would be tragically murdered. While the family, and entire country, mourned his loss, the farm would go up for sale. This was until Ricaurte’s youngest son, Oscar, would abandon a Navy career and return to the farm to dedicate his life to coffee. Prior to his time in the Navy, Oscar would get an education in environmental technologies and returned to the farm with two main goals; firstly, to advance the world of coffee production by implementing research and innovative sustainable practices to protect the environment. His second goal was to create employment opportunities on the farm to give back to the community around El Diamante. In the years since taking over, Los Nogales has become a center for research and innovation of coffee technology and biotechnology, a pioneer in social responsibility and environmental commitment, and of course, a producer of some of Colombia’s most outstanding coffees.

The harvesting is done by a team of 30 collectors who hand pick the coffee for perfect ripeness. After arriving at the mill for processing, the coffee is cleaned, pulped, and sorted for quality. Throughout each of these processes special care is taken to ensure that the coffee is kept sterile, which is critical for the next stage: fermentation. Pulped coffee is separated into tanks and a fermentation is started with Lactobacillus yeasts. The fermentation lasts for 190 hours and with the use of small fermentation tanks they are able to closely monitor temperature and quality to ensure an excellent fermentation. This “lacto fermentation” synergizes to create a coffee with mind-blowing tropical flavours, complex acidity, and candy-like sweetness, while also working to break down remaining mucilage on the coffee beans to create a “clean” cup. After the fermentation stage, coffee is fully washed before being spread out to dry under close monitoring. This is truly a special coffee and we are eager to share it with you!