Colombia Villamaria Natural

Working with social enterprise importer Raw Material, I selected this natural process coffee from the Villamaria Red Association in the Caldas region of Colombia. Villamaría's processing station, Jamaica, was chosen due to its perfect climate and altitude for the drying of naturally processed coffee. Alongside this, the large space available meant that producing high-quality naturals at scale was a possibility not available before.

Grown around 1800m above sea level, this coffee is a naturally processed selection of Castillo, Colombia and Caturra varietals and has tasting notes of Plum, Ripe Berries and Honey.

For the natural process, freshly harvested cherry is delivered to La Aurora where it is floated, sorted and left to rest in cherry for 24 hours. The cherries are transported to Jamaica the following day where they undergo a further 48 hours of fermentation in cherry.

They are then taken to drying beds in the greenhouse for around 15 days before being finished in the mechanical dryer for 3-4 days.