You ready to turn the volume up to 11?!?! This cultured fermentation of the Catiopia variety is a mind bender. Here we gooooooooo…..

This coffee comes to us from Finca La Riviera which is located in Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia. Finca La Rivera is one of three farms that are part of Cafe Uba which was founded in 2014 by Julio Cesar Madrid. Cafe Uba’s goal is one of excellence, innovation, and differentiation with a scientific approach. Between the three farms, Cafe Uba has 20 different varieties of coffee growing - a staggering number by all accounts. These varieties are benefited from the unique microclimate of Pereira which has warm days and cold nights in addition to a near daily cloud coverage that really extends the ripening period of the coffee cherries. From there, Cafe Uba looked towards processing as another area of interest hiring Andres Quiceno as a master processor who has developed 5 macro processes for the farms: Washed, Natural, Cold Press, Culturing, and Nitrogen fermentation. Within each of these macro processes, Andres has refined them further to be somewhat unique to each variety that is getting processed at that time. Their efforts have been seen on the international stage as the second place World Barista Champion of 2023 used a Caturra Nitro Fermentation for their competition coffee.

Now to get into the deets of this cultured lot of catiopia! Hang on tight…

As said by Andres Quiceno: Culturing is one of the fermentation methods used in which a starter culture, rich in microorganisms, is used to transform another product. We base ourselves on this technique to apply it in the fermentation of our coffees, in which we elaborate starter cultures by adding fruits and aromatic plants to the mix with the coffee to generate a mixed fermentation. These starter cultures use yeasts and bacteria plus the microbial load contained in the fruit (pineapple and banana for this coffee). After meeting certain conditions of temperatures, PH levels among other indicators; the coffee is mixed with the fruit plus the starter culture, passing to a mixed fermentation process generating an ideal environment for the multiplication of the yeasts and bacteria responsible for fermenting. In 2021, we decided to validate our fermentation process by means of a laboratory with The University of Los Andes in Colombia - the research titled ‘Metagenomic, metabolomic and sensory characteristics of fermented coffee inoculated with microbial starter cultures.’

Hyper intentional stuff, and lastly before I break this all down, here’s the specifics of our lots fermentation:
- Ripe coffee cherries are handpicked and left in husk in bags for 24 hours to increase in temperature to 40 degrees Celsius.
- After 24 hours, the coffee is pulped and put into the bioreactor and mixed with pineapple, panela and the starter culture. Here the coffee is left for 170 hours.
- At 72 hours of fermentation, banana is added to the mix with a second starter culture and then resealed until the 170th hour.
- Once the fermentation is finished, the bioreactor opens and the coffee moves on to the oxidation stage, then a washing process to remove any fruit pulp, mucilage etc. and taken in the solar drying station.
- Coffee is set out to dry until it reaches a humidity of 40% when it is then taken to a mechanical dryer and left until 10-11% humidity is reached. This process can take between 20-25 days.
- Once drying is complete, coffee is packed in parchment in grain pro bags and burlap and taken to the cellar and left for 30 days - this stabilization period is important for the sensory quality for the coffee.

So. Clearly there is a ton going into this coffee and all Cafe Uba coffees. I was so excited to work with Cotrade Coffees who have developed this relationship with Cafe Uba and getting some of their coffees to the states. Upon cupping this coffee I was absolutely giddy as I knew it was of the new Catiopia variety which I’ve been wanting to taste, but hadn’t had a chance to yet! Catiopia is a hybridized variety consisting of Colombia Caturra and Ethiopia Heriloom and let me tell ya, it sings on its own and this cultured lot under Andres’ masterful eye was just insane. In the cup you can expect a LOUD acidity that came off as a strawberry shrub soda - distinct and memorable - which is complimented by a classic Bazooka Joe bubble gum sweetness and juniper-like florals from hot to cold.

Dig into some competition level coffee with this one and see what cup profiles are blowing minds on the international stage. Hyped Enjoy is able to help bring it to your cup.