Gesha Natural Carbonic Maceration Shady Bader El Vergel

Floral / Grape Juice / Neapolitan Ice Cream

 This is a stunning coffee from Colombia. Scoring 90!

ORIGIN                        Colombia
REGION                       Tolima Department
PRODUCER                 El Vergal Farm/ Shady Bade
TYPE                            Gesha
VARIETAL                    Marcella
PROCESSING              Carbonic Maseration
ALTITUDE                    1400-1450 MASL

The farm is located in the beautiful Department of Tolima and rests on El Vergel, or Black Mountain, an inactive volcano that has created some of the most nutrient-rich soil for planting.

They go through great lengths to only produce the finest yields from our crops while practicing sustainability at their farm. They say:

‘We believe that creating high-quality products comes with great responsibility. Our dedication to sustainability does not just extend to the final product but also to our farm, our community, and our earth.

We go to great lengths to recycle our products and to reuse them throughout the farm.

One of the most overlooked sustainability factors is water. Water is not only used for watering the plants on the farm but also for washing the coffee. Tons of water can be used over the course of a harvest and can cause damage to the local topography washing away the landscape. Through proper recycling techniques we have been able to drastically minimize the amount of water used and conserve the water consumption in our surrounding area by 40%. This keeps us from draining our springs and create a surplus of drinking water for the whole community to benefit from.”

Gesha Marcela is a labour of love, with multiple steps to the processing, fermentation and drying of the coffee.

Firstly after hand harvesting, the coffee is ‘floated’ in water. This rinses the cherries of any leaves, sticks or dirt, but importantly will cause any unripe or overripe cherries that may not have been visible to float, ensuring that over 95% is perfectly matured before proceeding to fermentation.

The whole cherries are placed into a temperature regulated stainless steel tank, flushed with carbon dioxide and then pressurised to around 5 bars. With cool water flowing through the tanks walls, temperatures are kept below 22c for up to 70 hours. This carbonic maceration process is monitored by pH levels, ensuring no over-fermentation occurs. 

Once fermentation is complete, the coffee is sun dried intermittently with a number of thermal shocks or stalls at precise moisture levels. This has an expanding and contracting effect on the coffee's cell structure, with the aim to drive as much flavour back into the seed as possible. The coffee is transferred into sealed bags, and stored in a cool dark room for these stalls, before being laid back out onto raised beds for the next drying phase. In total, this Gesha takes more than 60 days to produce.

Gesha Marcela is a labour of love, with multiple steps to the processing, fermentation and drying of the coffee.

Firstly after hand harvesting, the coffee is ‘floated’ in water. This rinses the cherries of any leaves, sticks or dirt, but importantly will cause any unripe or overripe cherries that may not have been visible to float, ensuring that over 95% is perfectly matured before proceeding to fermentation.

The whole cherries are placed into a temperature regulated stainless steel tank, flushed with carbon dioxide and then pressurised to around 5 bars. With cool water flowing through the tanks walls, temperatures are kept below 22c for up to 70 hours. This carbonic maceration process is monitored by pH levels, ensuring no over-fermentation occurs. 

Once fermentation is complete, the coffee is sun dried intermittently with a number of thermal shocks or stalls at precise moisture levels. This has an expanding and contracting effect on the coffee's cell structure, with the aim to drive as much flavour back into the seed as possible. The coffee is transferred into sealed bags, and stored in a cool dark room for these stalls, before being laid back out onto raised beds for the next drying phase. In total, this Gesha takes more than 60 days to produce.

Elias and Shady describe the important balance between variety and terroir, ensuring that the characteristics of each are preserved but the coffee has as much of its own personality and vibrance as possible . Their Gesha and carbonic maceration techniques create a unique example of exactly that balance; intense floral aromas, complex fruit notes and fine acidity that we love from the Gesha variety, with a distinct sugary sweetness and long lingering finish we love about the region