Colombia, Aroma Nativo, Hydro Honey Bourbon Aji [New Crop, 496] [Roasted]

Born and raised in the wine-growing highlands of his home country Portugal, Luis Marcelino has always had an innate affinity and connection for natural landscapes, a sense of wonder of the bounties of the land and an inexhaustible curiosity about his role in contributing to that picture. This yearning, his love for drinking specialty coffee and his wife’s ties in Colombia led him to explore opportunities for a fresh start towards what he believed would be a more fulfilling life. 

There, Aroma Nativo was born. A Processing hub based in Huila and a trading company headquartered in Paris, France, Luis is one of the most exciting new experimental processors in Colombia. In 2022, he implemented the Veci Project having realized the extent to which purposeful processing could contribute to improving coffee quality and enable coffee farmers to enjoy a better quality of life with higher returns for their harvest. He does this by providing a viable alternative for coffee farmers with commendable agronomic practices to receive advance payments which aids cash flow while earning a premium for high quality cherries suitable for expressing exciting profiles.

Jaco used Luis’ Bourbon Aji to seal 1st Runners Up in the 2024 Hong Kong Brewers Cup 2024. This lot originates from cherries grown at a slightly higher altitude. The ripest cherries were put them through a fermentation in controlled anaerobic environment followed by pulping. They were then dried for few days to achieve the optimal moisture content before being returned to fermentation tanks for a rehydration with selected yeast and bacteria. Finally, after this meticulous process, the coffee is sent back to raised beds for 11 days of drying before being stored in a temperature controlled environment to stabilise for 3 months.