Caturra · 36+96h Anaerobic Natural · 1,800 m.a.s.l.
The Bayter family came to coffee in 2009 from avocado farming, to keep El Vergel alive after disease took the previous crop. Self-taught, they never stopped experimenting — 28 varietals under trial, and cultured yeasts, bacteria and koji no Colombian farm had brought to coffee before.
Medium body, cocoa-led. The acidity is crisp and apple-like rather than citric; the sweetness sits in dark fruit. Of everything we sell, this is the one that still reads as coffee first.
First time?If you normally drink a supermarket Colombian, this will feel familiar for about two seconds and then go somewhere else. Same cocoa backbone. The fruit is the new part.
Subscribe & save:
$64.00You save $7.70
Starts with this coffee — then 2 lots, hand-picked monthly · Free shipping
$14
Espresso glassbox 1
$12
Dosing ringmonth 2on box 1
$10
Dosing cupmonth 2on box 1
$26
Glass drippermonth 3on box 1
$10
Dosing cupbox 2
$18
Handheld frothermonth 3Pause, skip or cancel anytime
The lot file
Why this lot
What goes wrong
Left to run on its own, a 132-hour ferment turns boozy and sharp — the flavour people mean when they call a coffee “over-fermented.”
This one never gets the chance. The entire 96-hour second stage is held at a steady 23 °C, then dried mechanically over about seven days at 22% humidity and rested 30 days. The fruit builds at a rate somebody chose.
How to brew it
We roast a single omni profile per lot — light-medium, developed to work in a cone, in a press and in a portafilter. Not a compromise between them: one correct roast for the coffee, then a brew method chosen to suit it.
| Method | Ratio | Water | Grind | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filter | 1:16 | 198 °F | Coarse · 800–1,000 µm | ~3:15 (45 s bloom) |
| Immersion | 1:14 | 190 °F | Medium · 600–800 µm | ~2:45 (45 s bloom) |
| Espresso | 1:2.5 | 198 °F | Fine · 200–300 µm | 28–34 s |
Why lower pressure on espresso. A light-medium omni roast pushed at a full 9 bar throws its acidity and its bitterness at you at once. Pull it at 6–7 bar with an extended 8–12 second pre-infusion — wetting the bed evenly before extraction starts softens both ends and lets the fruit through. No pressure control? Grind a little coarser and pull longer: 1:2.5 rather than 1:2.
Sharp, boozy or thin at the finish? Go one step coarser and drop to 190 °F. Flat or hollow? Go finer first, and only then up to 199 °F. Change one thing at a time.
Rest. We rest every roast 5–7 days before it ships, so it arrives ready. These lots keep opening up after that — give a bag ten days off roast before you judge it.
Meet the producer
Smallholder cherry from Forest Coffee's Reforest Project in Manzanares, Caldas, processed centrally at El Vergel Estate — where the fermentation is held to the hour and the degree. The lot is named for the Guamo, a shade tree the project plants as the climate warms.
Small-batch roasting
How this coffee was made
Colombia · Manzanares, Caldas · Caturra · 1,800 m · Reforest Project · processed at El Vergel
Cocoa · Cherry · Blueberry · Green apple
Caturra cherries, renowned for their complex flavour potential, are meticulously selected.
A first 36-hour anaerobic pre-fermentation enhances the development of fruity and tropical notes.
Cherries are fermented for 96 hours in oxygen-free tanks at 23 °C, to build sweetness, acidity and complexity.
Dried for 7 days, to reach 22% humidity.
Beans are separated and rested for 30 days, to 10.5% moisture, for the flavours to settle.
Selected beans are roasted with precision to unlock their unique flavour characteristics.
