Colombia - El Diviso - Nestor & Adrian Lasso - Ombligon - Thermal Shock Natural - COMPETITION LOT

This coffee is from the renowned El Diviso - a family farm which was taken over by brothers, Nestor and Adrian Lasso 5 years ago. In the beginning, unlike their parents, they began branching out in to specialty and over the years they have gone on to grow coffee that has been showcased about the world over. More recently they have partnered with Jhoan Vergara, also the child of a coffee farmer, to create the El Diviso we know today - 3 young producers keen on pooling their knowledge to improve quality.

This coffee is a rare varietal of which not much is understood. It is suggested that it is related to the Ethiopian heirloom varietal, though some propose that it’s simply a local, colloquial phrase for pacamara. What is certain is that the name ombligon originates from the elongated shape of the bean, and a belly-button-shaped nodule on its base.

This particular lot was picked and then put in to open tanks before being oxidised for 48 hours. Then a special process is applied where the lot is fermented in a special bio reactor. Everything is controlled, humidity, pressure, temperature, circulation of liquids, and time. Special Ale yeast is added to this lot and it's fermented under these controlled conditions for 96 hours.

Once this stage is complete, the cherries are then dried mechanically for approximately 12 hours before being transferred to plastic bags and left to stabilise for 2 days. The final step is another 15 days of drying, until reaching the required 10.5-11.5% moisture content.

This is a really really unique coffee. The profile has very low acidity, and huge body - especially in espresso. In filter this translates to lots of layers, and complexity, while still maintaining this Red Fruit forward profile - think Strawberry, Raspberry, Cherry etc. It has a fair amount of "process" taste, which comes across as some dark spices, like vanilla, clove, cardamom etc. And finally hints of some layers of something bright and floral are in there, like lemon zest or lavender.  

We used this coffee in the Polish Barista Championship in February 2024 to take home the title with Dominka. This coffee was used in the World Barista Championship in 2023 by Jack Simpson of Australia to place 3rd in the world - it's truly an outstanding coffee that you shouldn't miss out on! Huge thanks to Cat and Pierre from Cata Exports for bringing this outstanding coffee to the rest of the world!