Elevated Brewing — Oscar Hernandez Prodigioso

• Origin — Colombia
• Producer — Oscar Hernandez at Los Nogales
• Region — Pitalito, Huila
• Variety — Colombia
• Terroir — 1900-2000 masl, cool tropical climate
• Process — Washed (thermal shock + 120-hour fermentation)

Tastes like

Rose + Strawberry + Juicy

Oscar Hernandez and Los Nogales

In 1953, Ricardo Hernandez purchased Los Nogales. In 2005, his son Ricaurte submitted one of the farm's coffees to the first ever Colombian Cup of Excellence competition… and won. Tragically, Ricaurte lost his life in 2013 when armed guerrillas ambushed him on his way to the farm.

Enrolled in the Colombian Navy at the time, Ricaurte's son Oscar returned home to continue his father’s legacy. Having previously studied environmental management, he had a vision to develop Los Nogales into a research and development centre for pioneering production methods. Fast forward to 2024 and Oscar is cementing his reputation as one of the country’s most influential coffee producers.

Today, Oscar’s sister Angie (a qualified industrial engineer) and her husband Jhohan (a microbiologist) spearhead the farm’s research on controlled fermentation.

This coffee, a Colombia variety or ‘Variedad Colombia’ (created in 1982 by the Colombia National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafe) crossing Caturra and Timor Hybrid) has been put through a 6-step post-harvest method that harnesses the power of rapid and extreme changes in water temperature to impact the fermentation process.

Labelled ‘thermal shock’, this approach can not only accelerate the breaking down of sugars present in ripe coffee cherries but is also believed to expedite an element of pasteurisation – helping to kill unwanted microbes that could easily destabilise the process.

The result is close control of the fermentation process and subsequent impact on the flavour profile of the coffee. In the cup this coffee has offered us notes of rose, strawberry and pomegranate. And the floral aromas you’ll uncover with careful brewing will fill the room. This is an elite expression of high-quality Colombian coffee.

The 6-step post-harvest process

1. Cleaning and disinfection of coffee cherries with treated water.
2. Immersion in water for quality control – defective cherries float to the surface and are removed.
3. Remaining cherries are submerged in 80°C water for 20 seconds and then exposed to cold water for 3-5 minutes (thermal shock) to help break down sugars and pasteurise the cherries.
4. The cherries are then pulped of their skin so that only the mucilage remains.
5. 120-hour controlled fermentation in air-tight tanks.
6. Sun drying for 15 days.

Brewing

We recommend brewing this coffee with a pour over coffee brewer. Use filtered water at 97 degrees Celsius, and the Assembly pour over method.

While this coffee will taste exceptional when brewed as soon as possible after roasting, you will find that you unlock its full flavour potential once you've allowed the beans to rest for at least 10 days.