There are two things that are particularly “stand-out” about this coffee. Almost everything we do with it, it tastes more like cacao and chocolate than coffee. The other great thing is that Jairo has stuck to his guns and produced a natural. What a relief that is when everything else is becoming Anaerobic eh? This game is about variety as well as consistency, parking that one there.
Top Trumps:
Fazenda Villarazo: Owned by Jairo Arcila.
Country: Colombia
Area: Armenia, Quindio
Altitude range: 1450-2000 meters above sea level. (650 Meters…that’s quite a broad range)
Process: Natural
Varietal: Tabi cultivar (Typica, Bourbon and Timor Hybrid) Launched in 2002 to be more resilient to disease, high yielding with top cup quality potential.
Harvest: June- December
Roast; Hot drop- Medium/developed filter.
Cup potential.
Aromatics: Red Fruits and dark chocolate Body: Medium-creamy Acidity: Incredible! (sorry) Sweet and citric
From the off, this coffee is all about high sweetness akin to lychee. Soft white citrus on both ends of the cup, with dark chocolate filling in the gaps as the liquor cools. At the first stage of cooling, as everything opens up, the fruity acidity remains sweet and stunning, followed by rich dark chocolate and a cacao finish. Even when completely cold, this s such a great drink. Really dark chocolate with a touch of grapefruity acidity. This alone is making me think about turning on the nitro cold brew. Very December/January?
If there ever was a tale about a coffee that improved, this is up there as the best example in a long time. When we ordered this coffee, is was so full of cacao and umami, it was anything but the subtle balanced coffee that we have today. What a coffee to start off 2022!.
Filter Recipe:
We have been brewing this at a starting point of 60g per litre in filter and 65g+ in full immersion.
Espresso:
Brew range: 16g +/- into 34g of espresso liquid for Milk-based drinks. 25-30 Seconds. Espresso 16-18g in 45-50g out in 28-50 seconds as a guide. We set our machines up on PID at 93.5C if that helps at all?
As always, we have worked backwards with this coffee. We developed the roast because we just love the uniqueness of the coffee and this has taken some settling down!
In 9oz as a milk-based drink this more cacao and boozy chocolate than coffee in the cup. This coffee is what the 9oz milk-based drink was made for.
In 6oz Milk-based drink: cacao, cocoa, rich and dark with a hint of strength and acidity.
Espresso: Boof! This is wild. Fresh white, ripe fruity acidity, (more fruit on the lower volume of ground coffee doses) dark chocolate, cacao, umami. The finish is so good.
Farm(er) Info
Jairo Arcila is both husband to Luz Helena Salazar and also father to Carlos and Felipe Arcila, the co-founders of Cofinet, which is how this coffee got to us. Jairo worked all of his career at Colombia’s second-largest mill and exporter, retiring after 40 years in 2019. Villarazo is not Jairo’s only farm.
Jairo bought his first coffee farm, Finca La Esmeralda in 1987, where he planted his first Caturra lot. He was fortunate enough to earn money by producing coffee while also working full-time for the local exporter. Using his savings Jairo slowly managed to purchase five additional farms. First Villarazo, then Mazatlan, Santa Monica, Maracay and Buenos Aires
