Colombia - Los Nogales Low Caf

Tasting notes

In the roaster’s words

Los Nogales in Pitalito, Huila, was founded around 80 years ago by Ricardo Hernández. His youngest son, Ricaurte Hernández, drove the farm’s success, and alongside his wife Suldery Arango led it to win Colombia’s Cup of Excellence in 2005. Ripe cherries are carefully selected, cleaned, and density-sorted before pulping. The beans undergo an innovative low-caffeine process at their farm. They use hot water (at 80°C) and a natural solvent derived from coffee pulp to remove around 95% of caffeine while preserving flavour. An additional 96-hour fermentation follows, using a sourdough starter culture maintained at 18°C, enhancing complexity and sweetness. The coffee is then slowly dried over 8 days in controlled conditions to achieve optimal moisture and stability. This complex and unique process drastically reduces this coffees bitterness. This coffee has a vibrant and layered taste profile with notes of sweet nectarine, the creamy texture of caramelised banana, and floral hints of bergamot.

Notes

Low-caffeine process at farm using hot water at 80°C and a natural solvent derived from coffee pulp to remove around 95% of caffeine, followed by 96-hour fermentation with a sourdough starter culture at 18°C and 8 days of controlled drying.