La Maria

COLOMBIA, Caldas, village of Villa Maria

Cupping score 87.75

Processing: Natural

Variety: Pink Bourbon

Elevation above sea level: 1900

Farma: La Maria

La Maria is the farm of Andres Latorreh, an Australian who bought and sold green coffee. His farm has become a laboratory where they research innovations in the field of specialty coffee. In 2016, they started the PURA CEPA initiative, which could be translated as the best of the best. 

It all started with a love of coffee and wine and a knowledge gap between them. One of the biggest inefficiencies in coffee production lies in the fermentation and drying process, where any number of processing site variables can have a huge impact on the final quality of the product. Previously, it was not possible to directly link cause and effect when a high degree of variability was observed in batches of coffee, as wild yeasts and bacteria react differently and further influence the formation of quality fungi and molds during the processing phase.

The scope of this project is based on controlled processing at the microbiological level. Controls include temperature, time, pH, sugar content, bacteria and microorganisms (strain of yeast and bacteria). This makes it possible to identify and select specific strains of beneficial yeasts and bacteria that aid fermentation, monitor the rate of their activity and ensure that counterproductive bacteria, fungi and molds are eliminated from the process.

You can read about the difference between roasting here .