La Cruz Nariño Caturra Anaerobic FW

Libardo and Alba Lazo are motivated by their desire to teach their children everything they know about coffee cultivation. Considering the multiple high-scoring Cup of Excellence (COE) lots they’ve produced, there’s quite a lot of information to share.

In addition to working alongside Libardo at Finca La Cruz, Alba also cultivates coffee on her own farm, Finca Las Minas, which she inherited from her father. Her lots have scored highly in COE 7 times.

The Lazos are focus on utilizing organic practice to minimize chemical inputs and protect the environment.

Libardo’s innovation anaerobic process creates a sweet, flavorful and high-scoring cup. Libardo and his wife, Alba, selectively handpick ripe, red cherry. They pulp cherry and ferment it in sealed containers for 60 to 90 hours. Following fermentation, coffee is washed and parchment is laid to sun dry. Libardo and Alba rake parchment frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 28 to 30 days for parchment to dry. 

As more producers and washing stations enter specialty coffee, unique processing methods are a new way to stand out among the increasing number of sellers. One of those newer processing methods is anaerobic fermentation. 

Anaerobic fermentation occurs in sealed containers. The seal means the microbes fueling fermentation quickly consume all the oxygen in the container. At that point, the environment becomes anaerobic (without oxygen). In this new environment, the microbes that typically breathe oxygen have a harder time surviving, and those that flourish on carbon dioxide (the typical byproduct of oxygen-breathing microbes) are able to dominate fermentation.  

Microbes are immensely diverse and have the potential to produce a wide array of flavors in coffees. Aerobic (oxygen-breathing) microbes produce different flavor outcomes than anaerobic ones, so we have the potential to produce vastly different flavors simply by changing the available resources for microbes.

The Nariño department sits in the far south of Colombia. It borders Ecuador and the high Andean peaks. Its closeness to the equator enables coffee cultivation at very high altitudes. Many farms are located at heights surpassing 2,000 meters above sea level. 

While coffee growing is not traditionally seen at such high altitudes, it is possible in Nariño thanks to plenty of sunlight, dependable and frequent rainfall, and rich soils. Furthermore, the landscape helps ensure nights do not get too cold for growing cherry. The heat that accumulates in the bottom of canyons rises into the mountains at night, protecting cherry from the extreme nighttime cold that comes with such a high altitude.

There are no less than three volcanoes in the Cordillera Occidental, a branch of the Andes mountains in Colombia. These volcanoes reach altitudes as high as 4,700 meters above sea level. While volcanic activity can sometimes present hazards to life and coffee farming, the rich volcanic soil full of nutrients provides an excellent growing medium for coffee plants. The nutrients, combined with lower temperatures helps to slowly form coffee fruits and concentrate their sugars. The result is complex, sweet and acidic coffees.