Los Nogales, Colombia

Region Huila

Variety Caturra “Primitivo”

Process Advanced Washed

Roasted in U.K. on  September 9th

“

A beautifully executed example of modern advanced processing by talented brother and sister producers Oscar & Angie Hernandez”

What to expect in the cup

Raspberry, rose, panna cotta. Amazingly sweet like creamy vanilla dessert with luscious juicy berries acidity and elegant floral finish.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Angie Hernández, the youngest of the family, is 24 years old and is an industrial engineer. At her young age, she is in charge of studying the world of microbiology, searching for fermentation techniques that will give the result of a cup of excellence. Her office is a laboratory in the mountains of the Bruselas township and her experimentation space is the coffee plantations that her father cultivated for her. The Hernández family protects the plant as one more member of their house, giving it the care and attention to ensure that, through science, work and love, they obtain the result that has given them success today. Its process begins with the selection of an excellent seed to give it a balanced and natural diet, based on organic matter and microbiology that will allow the coffee to obtain the desired sensory characteristics. What Hernandez wants is to transform the organic matter that we have on the farm, making organic fertilisers to achieve good fertilisation of each coffee plant and in the end, it will give a quality grain. There are more than 30 collectors who are part of this work team, more than 30 families that benefit from these crops, each of them trained before the harvest to collect ripe fruits and correctly select the result. The harvested grains are transported in fruit baskets that allow the grain to be kept fresh, not allowing it to be mistreated or have any damage at the time of reaching the mill. This particular lot named “Primitivo” is composed of 100% Caturra varietal with Washed Thermal Shock application utilising 80C hot water for 20sec followed by rapid cooling with cold water for 3-5min. This process breaks down the sugars and pasteurises the beans which leads to the dessert-like sweet profile in the cup. The beans are then sealed into tanks with Mossto for 120hrs and this final stage of fermentation influences the flavour and acidity of the coffee. And finally the fermented coffee beans are sun dried for 15days in order to achieve the desired moisture level at around 10%.

PRODUCER NOTES

From the fertile land that welcomed the coffee seed, between the majestic and green mountains of the largest corregimiento in Colombia, Brussels, is the “Los Nogales” farm, located in the village of El Diamante. The hospitality of the peasant, the fresh air, the rough mountain embraced by the thick clouds comprise a territory that keeps the history of the Hernández family among its coffee plantations. Five generations of a family that in its roots planted love for the land, coffee and transmitted it to this day. Approximately 80 years ago, when the district of Brussels was just being formed, Ricardo Hernández and Concepción Castillo arrived from Nariño, to some fertile wastelands, grateful to those who would be their protectors and would mark a precedent in the history of coffee. Upon finding this paradise they decided to form their family and from the fruit of love 8 children were born, who dedicated their lives to the countryside. Among those eight brothers, one stood out leading the family to be remembered forever in the world of coffee. Ricaurte Hernandez, youngest son of Ricardo Hernandez and Concepción Castillo was born in 1952, a farmer who learned from the land the value of generosity, humility and the ability to undertake. His profession was always coffee farming and he dreamed of being able to see his children grow up on his farm with the values he learned. Ricaurte meets his life partner Suldery Arango in Valle del Cauca, an enterprising woman who had coffee in her blood and with whom she would build a coffee empire hand in hand with her children, Olga Lucia, John Fredy, Liliana, Nancy, Paola, Oscar Fernando, Patricia and Angie Julieth. His leadership in the region led him to be the president of the community action board, in his commitment to the community and his union. However, in the 1990s, they decided to start farming and emigrate to Caquetá; At the point of selling the farm, the cattle business did not work out and they returned to their land which would give them the greatest happiness of their lives. For the year 2005, Colombia revolutionised the world of coffee with the realisation of the first “Cup of Excellence” contest where more than 280 lots participated, among them, the Los Nogales farm -led by Ricaurte Hernández-, winning the first place, because its coffee was catalogued by a group of international juries as the best among all the coffee groups presented in the competition. Ricaurte always wanted to promote the field from other perspectives, giving added value to specialty coffee, promoting new ways of treating the soil, seeking new ways to market and do business, a passion that he passed on to his children who would inherit this great responsibility. Violence has always been immersed in the Colombian countryside and this story was no exception. On February 17, 2013, while Ricaurte was on his way to the Los Nogales farm, armed groups killed him, making him one more victim of the endless violence that plagues the country. The coffee leader, a pioneer of high-quality coffee, an unforgettable symbol of courage and perseverance, leaves a great precedent and example in history for the thousands of farmers who live from coffee plantations. The blow to the family was accompanied by a country that mourned the loss of him. They decided to sell the farm after that tragic event, in search of offering the mother a better well-being. However, the youngest son Oscar Fernando – who at the time belonged to the National Navy – decides to leave his military career and take charge of the great legacy of his father.