The story
Where this coffee comes from.
Papayo · 96h Anaerobic Natural · The Reserve
Strawberry, mango and pomegranate — this is Papayo, a Colombian cultivar rare enough that the lot is named after it. The cherries start with a 4-hour open-air ferment on tarps, then seal into airtight tanks for 96 hours with humidity held at 22–25%. Across those 96 hours of anaerobic fermentation, the tropical fruit flavors develop on purpose — for an outstanding controlled cup, rhyming with excellence.
Why this lot is exceptional
- A variety most people will never taste. Papayo is so rare the lot is named after it — very large beans, grown in small plots, and sold in our importer’s exotic-cultivar program alongside Gesha and Sidra.
- The family kept it for their own estate. The Bayters work with 250 coffee-growing families across Colombia — Papayo they grow themselves, at El Vergel.
- One lot, counted in bags. About 212 bags in stock, roasted in small rounds. When it’s gone, the next Papayo won’t taste identical — and we’ll tell you exactly what changed.
Tasting notes
Strawberry · Mango · Pomegranate · Pineapple · Chocolate
Origin
- Country: Colombia
- Region: Fresno, Tolima
- Producer: Elías & Shady Bayter · El Vergel Estate
- Altitude: ~1,500 m.a.s.l.
- Varietal: Papayo — a rare exotic cultivar
- Process: 96h anaerobic natural — 4h open-air pre-ferment on tarps → 96h sealed hermetic tanks, humidity held at 22–25%
- Drying: Mechanical, 76 hours, then a 30-day rest
- Harvest: 2025–26
Roast
Light-Medium development — keep the tropical fruit forward while resolving the chocolate base. Roasted in small rounds, sealed the same day.
The variety
Most Colombian coffee is Caturra or Castillo. Papayo is something else — an exotic cultivar grown in small plots, very large beans, with a naturally tropical character the process is built to amplify: a short open-air phase wakes the fruit, and 96 sealed hours develop it slowly and evenly. The strawberry and mango you taste are the variety itself, controlled.
About this lot
Lot 26-00310, grown and processed at El Vergel Estate in Fresno, Tolima — the Bayter family’s own farm, the estate that anchors Forest Coffee’s work across Colombia (and where our Guamo is processed). Elías and Shady Bayter run the lots themselves. A Reserve microlot: about 72kgs of green coffee only.
