Origin: Colombia
Farm/Region: Bruselas, Huila 
Tasting Notes: Peach, Honey, Nutmeg, Candied Orange
Producer: Jonathan Gasca
Varietal: Pacamara
Processing: Washed
Altitude: 1550 - 1800 MASL

Colombia Zarza Pacamara Washed Espresso - Single Origin.

Jonathan Gasca is a character. Him, his wife and his lovely family are the backbone of Zarza coffee who we had the pleasure of visiting in Colombia. The name ‘Zarza’ is derived from their family name, and related with Zarzamora trees, honey and bees.

The Gasca Brothers, Jonathan and Johan who wanted to be soccer players as children, are the fourth generation of a traditional coffee-growing family dedicated to selling coffee. The family  have been passionately producing coffee (and beekeeping) at scale for 80 years but decided to dive deep into specialty coffee very recently. Their progression and achievements over that time are nothing less than spectacular.

Zarza have only 3 years of specialty coffee production under their belts, but the fermentations are tight, and smell absolutely incredible first hand.

Like his friends; the Lasso brothers at El Diviso, Jhoan and Diego at Las Flores, he too is processing with the addition of thermoshock protocols and advanced experimental processing.

This lot is washed processed, with sequential fermentation and temperature control. The cherries are picked and floated, then oxidised for 24 hours at 25 degrees centigrade. A secondary sealed fermentation occurs for 60 hours between 16-18 degrees, after which the coffee is pulped and exposed to Quenching with cold water; which is a specific method of rapidly cooling down coffee cherries. Hot water is then added again to eliminate microbial load, creating what is known as a ‘thermoshock process’ creating brighter and clearer flavours via biochemical changes inside the coffee cherry. Once the tertiary fermentation is complete and the washing is done, the coffee is then dried over a week to reach optimal moisture levels.