Colombia Finca Milan “Nitro Caturra” - Green

$ 19.55

Country: Colombia
Region: Betulia, Risaralda
Varietal: Caturra
Process: Nitro
Altitude: 1,500 MASL
Cupping Notes: Honeydew, Watermelon, Jolly Rancher
Recommended Roast: City to Full City
Good For: Auto Drip, Full Immersion, Espresso

Description: Located in the village of Betulia (Arabia township, Pereira), Finca Milán has been producing all types of coffee since 1982, including Pink Bourbon, Caturra, Colombia, Castillo Naranjal, and Catiope. This is where Julio Madrid and Julio Andrés Quiceno developed unique processing methods, such as “Culturing” and “Nitro” fermentations. They also process coffees using more traditional methods, like Washed and Natural processes. The farm also protects three natural water springs and features biological corridors with native guadua bamboo.

This lot is crafted using Cafe Uba’s (Finca Milan parent company) signature “Nitro Washed” fermentation, an innovative technique developed in-house. In this process, coffee is fermented inside a bioreactor with a mix of fruit must, starter cultures, and culturing lixiviates. During fermentation, the atmosphere purges oxygen with nitrogen and they closely monitor key variables such as temperature, pH, and Brix levels to keep the coffee in what has been identified as the optimal range. After fermentation the coffee is sun dried for 30 days.

The lots that we got from Finca Milan using their nitro or culturing processes remind us of the first time trying Natural Ethiopian coffees and thinking “how can coffee even taste like this?” The notes we get in this coffee are incredibly vibrant, making for such a fun cup of coffee. If you like fruity and unique coffees, we really can’t suggest trying this lot enough.

Surprising Taste

I bought this to try as well as the April and NG varieties of the finca fermented coffee. This one was an absolute stand out in comparison to the others and actually did taste like watermelon jolly ranchers. I even gave a sample to my co workers who 2/5 were able to blindly guess watermelon. I am excited to offer this on my small business coffee roasting website.

Cantalope Coffee

I’m a big fan of the newer, experimental coffee processing methods. It’s a brave new world for coffee. I am thankful for coffee companies like Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders and others that source these experimental, sometimes excellent, coffees for home roasters. I love the co-fermented coffees. I have enjoyed co-ferments with cinnamon, coconut, coco-lime, blueberry, strawberry, peach, and more….Having said all that, this Columbian “Nitro Caturra” tastes like Cantaloupe. Sometimes these experimental coffee processing methods produce coffees which I do not like. Unfortunately, this is one of those examples. I’ve also had a passion fruit co-ferment, which tasted like dill pickle coffee and was not good, in my opinion. Perhaps I would like it if it were more honeydew or watermelon, but it’s distinctly cantaloupe, and I’ve learned that I don’t like cantaloupe coffee. If you think you’ll like cantaloupe coffee, you will love this one. For me, it costs $20 lb. and produces a cantaloupe tasting coffee which I do not enjoy drinking.

Stunning!

I can barely contain myself this morning. Six stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I ran a fast, hot roast. FC at 9:15, 199C, finish at 10:40 with ann end temp of 203.9C on an Aillio Bullet R1. My environment is a touch humid, so I gauge the weight loss is slightly higher than were I not living in what feels like Bangladesh during monsoon season. Nonetheless…

This coffee, as expensive as it is, is irrationally fun, and the tasting notes are hilarious and spot on accurate. I’ve been giggling all day! Now to look into a second mortgage to finance a bulk purchase.

Cheers, friends! ✌️❤️☕️🍪🚐