
Colombia Villa Lara Extended Fermentation
cherry, milk chocolate, plum
Region: Guadas, Colombia
Altitude: 1650 masl
Variety: Tabi, Castillo
Process: 36 Hour Fermentation Washed
Finca Villa Lara, located in Guaduas, Cundinamarca, Colombia, is a coffee farm founded by Jonathan Lara, a retired Vermont special education teacher, and his Colombian wife, Beatriz Gomez. After purchasing an abandoned farm in 2010, they initially intended to create a small recreational farm but shifted focus toward coffee cultivation with guidance from the National Federation of Coffee Growers. What began as a project to produce "good quality coffee" evolved into a dedication to high-quality micro-lots, reflecting Jonathan and Beatriz's shared passion for detail and excellence.
Villa Lara emphasizes social and environmental sustainability alongside coffee production. The farm meets or exceeds all Colombian labor and environmental standards, ensuring excellent living conditions for workers and maintaining over a third of the land in conservation. With 6,000 trees planted for shade and wildlife habitat, Villa Lara promotes biodiversity while protecting water resources. Their approach embodies a commitment to community responsibility, offering workers opportunities for personal growth and producing quality coffee as a result of their holistic approach.
In the traditional washed process for coffee beans, the ripe and freshly picked coffee cherries are immediately pulped and left to ferment for a short time, making it easier to remove mucilage from the beans. Then the beans are washed and dried.
With extended fermentation, the beans are often soaked for more than a day. In this case, 36 hours. The process requires careful monitoring to avoid overfermentation. The extra fermentation time can encourage complex, winey, and unique flavor notes to develop. We're tasting wonderful deep notes of cherry, rich milk chocolate, and a luscious plum-like acidity and sweetness.
Limited to 100 boxes
Featured art by Angie Huang. Installation on view beginning 1/31 at our North Park Cafe. Read about the artist here.
We roast on Tuesday and Thursday. Your order will be shipped or available for local pick up on Friday.