Brazil — Diego Bermudez Robusta

• Cherry producer — Josiel Moretti
• Origin — Nova Brasilandia D'Oeste, Rondonia, Brazil
• Post-harvest producer — Diego Bermudez at Finca El Paraiso, Cauca, Colombia
• Variety — Amazonian robusta
• Terroir — 200 masl, tropical savannah climate
• Process — Washed (96-hour fermentation + thermal shock with cold water)

Tastes like

Tropical fruits + Cocoa + Dense

Recommended brewing

• Best: Pour over with the Orea Brewer V3
• Great: Filter (French Press, batch brew, Chemex)
• Very good: Espresso

We recommend resting our coffees for at least 7 days after roast date before brewing.

Diego Bermudez Robusta

Diego Bermudez's reputation for pioneering post-harvest processing goes before him. Alongside a team of researchers at Finca El Paraiso, Diego has invested significant amounts of time and resource into understanding the impact of controlled environments on the fermentation and subsequent flavour of harvested coffee.

Over the border in Brazil, recent years have seen a growing interest in the potential of robusta - a species of coffee long ignored by the specialty coffee sector in favour of arabica. This interest in robusta has been primarily (but not solely) fuelled by concerns around the future of arabica growing regions as the climate warms.

This coffee is the result of Diego and his team applying their expertise to a lot of Amazonian robusta in an attempt to uncover flavours not usually associated with coffees of this species. In the cup, we've found more detectable fruit notes and less of the harsh flavours usually associated with robusta.

Diego's intention is to build understanding of how extended fermentation can help producers of Amazonian robusta impact the flavour of their coffees and appeal to consumers of arabica coffee. The early signs are promising.

Processing information

This coffee was processed with a 96-hour fermentation in which ripe coffee cherries were submerged in water and monitored for temperature and PH levels.

The heat of the fermentation drives development of flavours and aromas which are then locked in by thermal shock - a technique in which a cold water rinse prompts the pores of the cherries to close and seal in the developed qualities. This is followed by a sun-drying process until the desired moisture content is achieved.