Producer: Ana Mustafá
Region, city: Risaralda, Pereira
Processing: Fed-batch fermentation, washed
Cultivar: Castillo
Sourced: LAREB
Yellow tropical fruit – oolong tea – cacao nibs
Colombia Crucero will always be the most exciting coffee for us, as it was the first one we ever released. Ana Mustafá is a well known and progressive producer based near Pereira. Together with Herbert Peñaloza, they manage a handful of farms, a dry mill and they cooperate with other producers in the region in terms of export. They also founded their exporting company LaReb so they can have as much control over the process as possible.
Ana and Herbert crafted the fed-batch processing when they needed to process a sh*tload of coffee at once. They de-pulped and put three consecutive picking days on top of each other into the fermentation tank, with the parchment as well. In those three layers, a wild fermentation process took place. If the carefully monitored temperature in the tank would go too high, they'd slow it down by adding water to the process. After the dry fermentation, the coffee was finally mechanically dried to a low temperature for two days.
Crucero is specific as the processing results seem to work the best only at one farm from the six Ana manages. The main reason for that is the presence of specific bacteria and yeasts in the porous walls of the cement fermentation tank. That boosts the final cup with more body, a delicately boozy feel and super packed flavor profile. It's one of those coffees we love to drink everyday for months and it's as exciting as it was the first time.