We are incredibly honored and proud to release our first unique microlot coffee set!  It’s comprised of an exclusive first harvest of 3 coffees from our close relationship with 575 Café in Colombia.  We’ve known Herbert Peñaloza Correa since the very beginning of our coffee journey. As the founder of 575 Café and one of the pillars of La REB, Herbert’s roots run deep through coffee cultivation in central Colombia.

About 5 years ago, Herbert was able to purchase the first farm in which he had free reign and complete control over the coffee cultivation process, from start to finish. ‘El Bocadillo’, as the farm is called, represents a return to the roots of coffee cultivation. Located in rural northern Tolima and dubbed “Coffee Growing for the 21^st Century”, Herbert and his team approached every aspect of the new farm with deep intention, a desire to simplify, and one overriding goal: to let the coffee speak for itself. The team spent a great deal of time and energy understanding the terrain, the climate, and the natural flora of the area, building the farm specifically to focus on growing coffee cleanly, simply and in ways that bring out the best in each cultivar.

We are thrilled and honored to partner with 575 Café to bring the first ever harvest from El Bocadillo to the world. As Herbert puts it, “Whenever you have a new farm, especially when conditions are atypical like the ones we have at El Bocadillo, it is imperative to get to know the coffees first. Hence, this is not a single-varietal release, but an exploration of the potential of a farm. Of course, everything is processed in a way that will enhance the flavor of the coffees, which is also necessary for introducing the farm to the world in the best possible way.”

This special coffee gift set is comprised of 3 different coffees:

• ‘Premisa’, a fully washed coffee, represents a ‘baseline’ for this first harvest. After developing a baseline for a coffee, fermentation profiles and other processing methods are incorporated to further develop coffee and flavors. The washed processing method gives this coffee a clean, bright, and juicy flavor profile.
• ‘Puro’ represents the next evolution of processing by introducing a 78-hour in-husk anoxic fermentation, making this a short-fermentation naturally processed coffee. Adding this step brings out herbal and fruity notes and gives the coffee a creamy body. For Herbert, “a clean naturally processed coffee is the purest flavor expression of what it is in the field. If fermentation is not too harsh, you will be able to experience the most ‘untouched’ version of the coffee.”
• ‘Cascada’ takes this exploration deeper by incorporating a 168-hour anoxic fermentation, making this the longest fermentation naturally processed coffee of the harvest. This step really develops the more complex, floral flavors of the coffee and gives this coffee a mouthfeel we can only describe as slightly effervescent. Per Herbert, “long, cold fermentations are something I have always wanted to explore but could not. And, since the infrastructure to do it is very expensive, a moving body of water is always the best way. In this case, a waterfall – hence the name, ‘cascada’. After all that fermentation time, the cherries are in no shape to depulp, so it has to be dried as a natural.”