VERANILLO Lot #71 Anaerobic Natural Castillo (CAD $16/lb)

Origin: Colombia

Region: Santa Barbara, Antioquia

Farm: Los Pinos

Elevation: 1920-2050 masl

Producer: Felipe Trujillo

Variety: Castillo

Process: 2 Phases Extended Fermentation

Cup Profile: Tropical fruits, dark berries, black currant, grape, dark chocolate, caramel, winey

Cup Score: 87.50

Harvest: January 2022

Size: 44lb (20kg) vacuum sealed pack 

Veranillo lot #57 is a unique flavour profile that will stand out distinctly on any coffee rotation or menu. We managed to purchase the entire 300kg lot.

About Los Pinos

The Veranillo profile is produced by Felipe Trujillo at his farm Los Pinos in Santa Barbara, Antioquia. Los Pinos grows Geisha, Pink and Red Bourbon and Castillo at altitudes above 1900 masl.

Felipe is a Production Engineer, a fourth generation coffee producer and leverages his engineering expertise on farm, implementing strategies to improve the flavour and quality of his coffees. He has refined his fermentation techniques to become an industry leader in Colombia. He produces honeys, naturals leveraging extended fermentation, anaerobic processing and many other techniques, many of which were thought to be impossible in Colombia just a few years ago.

Los Pinos is specialized in innovative processing techniques and has explored various profiles since 2015. They have a portfolio of 15 different protocols, including Terzetto, Veranillo, XRF, G-Coldwashed, G-CM, PB-Frozen, Frozen Cherry, and many others.

We recommend taking a look at their Instagram account to get a feel for their innovative approach to coffee production and processing.

About Veranillo

For the Veranillo flavour profile, Felipe has chosen to utilize only the Castillo variety, since it has a full body and notes of bright tropical fruits and winey notes due to the extended fermentation.

As the harvest comes to an end, Felipe first hand picks mature cherries only and uses floating techniques to eliminate lower density beans and evens the temperature in the coffee cherries before starting the fermentation.

Phase 1 - Anaerobic Fermentation

Next, the cherries are placed in closed tanks with oxygen escape valves for 7 days of anaerobic fermentation (160-170 hours depending on the temperature and PH of the mass).

Each day, the cherries at the bottom of the tank are cycled to the top to ensure all the cherries ferment evenly.

This phase ends when the moisture of the cherries reaches below 20%. This is know as the speed drying process.

Phase 2 - Natural Fermentation

Finally, the cherries are taken out of the tanks and placed on African beds during which there is a short aerobic fermentation while the moisture levels drop and the drying process begins. 

This drying process takes 2 weeks until the moisture levels are below 11%.