SUMO -Caturra, Honey CM with Banana, La Ricaurte(Colombia)

Producer: Honorio and Julio Vélez

Farm: La Ricaurte

Region: Ciudad Bolívar, Antioquia
Variety: Caturra
Process: Honey Carbonic Maceration with Banana
Altitude: 1950 masl
Harvested: 2024

Cupping notes: Banana, pineapple, candy and honeysuckle. Very sweet and complex.

El Ricaurte, a leading coffee farm in Ciudad Bolívar, Antioquia, has been an important part of the region's coffee production. Passed down to brothers Honorio and Julio Vélez from their father, Conrado, in the 1940s, the farm began a formal coffee-growing operation, specializing in Typica and Bourbon varieties.

The farm, located near the town, spans about 35 lots, with 25 currently used for cultivating exotic and specialty coffee. At an altitude of 1,950 meters above sea level, El Ricaurte houses roughly 100,000 coffee trees, featuring varieties such as Caturra, Colombia, Castillo, and Tabi.

Now managed by the younger generation, the farm has been a leader in refining advanced production and fermentation techniques. Through the use of customized fermentation tanks, microorganisms, and fruit pulps, they have developed protocols to produce unique, exotic coffees.

A key part of this process involves a stainless-steel pressurized tank. Coffee cherries are placed inside and CO2 is introduced to create an anaerobic environment. The cherries undergo a five-day (120-hour) fermentation period, during which coffee juice or leachate is extracted.

After the first round of fermentation, the cherries are de-pulped and fermented again, this time with the previously extracted leachate mixed with banana. This secondary fermentation lasts for another three days. Once complete, the cherries are ready for drying.

In the final step, the coffee cherries are dried over five days, allowing the flavors to mature. Each phase of this careful process is executed to ensure exceptional coffee quality.