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Colombia - Jairo Arcila - Ice Natural

COLOMBIA - JAIRO ARCILA - ICE NATURAL

COUNTRY

Quindío is one of the three departments of Colombia which make up the famed Coffee Triangle (also known as the Coffee Zone or Coffee Belt) in Colombia, alongside Caldas and Risaralda. The Coffee Triangle is known for producing the majority of Colombia's coffee and the cultivation of coffee has resulted in huge development in this area. Armenia, where this coffee is grown, is the capital city of Quindío and despite Quindío being the second smallest Colombian region, it is one of the main centres of the national economy and of the Colombian coffee growing axis. As a result, the historic centre of Armenia was named as part of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Bonus fun fact: Quindío is home to the National Coffee Park, a theme park based around coffee and coffee production)

THIS COFFEE

Jairo Arcila is the main lead of Cofinet, an importer/exporter, establishing a direct link with the farmers in his network – with this particular lot being grown under the keen eye of Jairo himself. Jairo is a civil engineer and third-generation coffee grower. As a child he used to hang out around coffee plantations with his dad and he even remembers harvesting coffee for fun. Jairo initially worked in coffee at Colombia's second largest coffee exporter as their Mill Manager for 40 years. At that time, he bought his first farm and started growing coffee. He was very curious about growing coffee and very quickly learned how to increase his coffee production by 25%. Jairo also realised how important the use of fertilisers is to plant health and how correct application can lead to higher quality coffees that are suitable for export. In 2014, through his employer at the dry mill, Jairo gained access to Gesha seeds. Despite his lack of knowledge of speciality coffee at the time, Jairo decided to plant 3000 Gesha trees at his farm. Back then, it was only the second Gesha plantation in Quindio and he was one of the first 10 growers to produce Gesha in Colombia. Jairo founded Cofinet with his sons, Carlos and Felipe and the reins of Cofinet are now with them - allowing Jairo to do more small scale projects like look after this micro-lot and develop this experimental coffee processes. He now owns five farms; Esmeralda, Villarazo, Santa Monica, Maracay and Buenos Aires - providing jobs to locals in Quindío.

Ice fermentation is a relatively new, experimental processing method that was developed by coffee producer Jairo Arcila and his sons and co-owners of Cofinet, Felipe and Carlos Arcila. This coffee was exposed to a dry aerobic fermentation of 24 hours. This fermentation begins as soon as a coffee is picked, due to the presence of water, sugar, bacteria, and yeast. Leaving the fruit on the coffee during this phase allows for the sugars and acids in the coffees mucilage to convert into different sugars, acids, CO2, ethyl alcohol, and other compounds. This imparts sweet and fruity flavours on the coffee. The coffee is then placed inside grainpro bags for 50 hours, maintaining a temperature below 22 degrees while fermentation continues. Afterwards, the coffee is frozen for 72 hours, before being placed on raised beds below 35 degrees to thaw and dry until ideal
moisture content is achieved.

TASTES LIKE:

Cacao, Wild Strawberry, Pedro Ximenez

SOLD OUT: These beans are currently sold out but browse our current line up of speciality coffee beans (both single origin and blends). 

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