base tone of IPA beer of malty and bitterness, having flavor of hops, cherry.
Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia, producer behind El Puente, Monteblanco, El Progreso, La Loma, Palmera, etc., has managed to simulate the flavor profile of an IPA without infusing the actual beverages. Rodrigo’s love for the agricultural practice of growing and processing coffee quickly led to an obsession with the adjacent industry of specialty wine. The more he learned about the fundamentals of fermentation in wine, he found applicable inroads to his work in coffee. Unlike the naturally unfolding fermentation of wine, Rodrigo loves to isolate and manipulate variables to affect different outcomes. This led him to a fascination with craft beer, which requires a more involved hand in the fermentation stage. These coffees are the culmination of countless hours devoted to maintaining consistency across variables while making minor tweaks to mimic the taste of an IPA. While many producers are infusing anaerobic coffees with various extracts and additives, Rodrigo’s determination to use nothing but the lessons he learned from wine & beer to achieve these results speaks volumes to his determination!
For the IPA, the cherries are fermented in a heated environment for 80 hours. The heat speeds up the chemical reactions that break down their sugars. The cherries are then dry fermented in an anaerobic tank for another 80 hours. Next up is a solar drying phase, lasting 5 days. Since the cherries are not first depulped, this qualifies as a natural processed coffee. Lastly, the shriveled up fruit spends an extra 22 days drying on shaded raised beds. That’s right – the IPA takes over 33 days to process post harvest. At every point in this journey, the seeds are monitored for defects and variations in fermentation.
Finca La Loma is located in Vereda Agua Negra in the Pitalito municipality of Huila. The farm has 12 hectares planted with many varieties, including Caturra, Variedad Colombia, Pink Bourbon, Pacamara, Laurina, and Geisha. The mill on the farm includes a depulper and tanks for dry fermentation. Producers Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia and Claudia Samboni have been cultivating coffee on La Loma since 2011.
In 2017, Rodrigo and his team at Aromas del Sur—the company built to unify all the farms he owns and manages: La Loma, El Progreso, and Monteblanco—constructed a cupping lab on La Loma to facilitate sample roasting, crop evaluation, and sourcing at origin. The lab overlooks the farm and the valley of Pitalito, with coffee trees and other crops dotting the rolling landscape.
- Origin: Colombia
- Region: Huila, Pitalito
- Estate: Finca La Loma
- Producer: Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia
- Altitude: 1650m
- Cultivar: Caturra
- Processing: IPA Natural
- Sourcing: Pebble Coffee