This year both components of Block Party are from Finca Lomaverde in Santa Bárbara, Antioquia, Colombia—100% chiroso, processed individually as washed and natural lots. The Echavarría Family represents one of our longest running relationships at origin and we're thrilled to feature them in such a special offering.
Chiroso
This magical variety originated near the town of Urrao, some 50 miles northwest of Santa Bárbara. As the story goes, a farmer was visiting another town nearby and noticed some unusually productive coffee plants with elongated fruits and seeds—curiously different from the caturra and bourbon commonly grown in the area. He brought seeds back to Urrao where the variety gradually became popular among farmers for its tolerance to the cold weather. Initially thought to be a mutation of caturra, it was nicknamed caturra chiroso (after Colombian slang for something that is stretched out). Its flavor profile is outstandingly floral and fruity, especially when processed with a longer, cooler fermentation as is typical in Urrao.
By 2014 coffees from Urrao were performing incredibly well in the Cup of Excellence, catching the attention of buyers like Pergamino. More recently scientific literature has suggested that chiroso is not actually a mutation of caturra, nor is it of any close relation to the bourbon-typica group. Instead, it appears possible that it is an Ethiopian landrace variety that has mysteriously appeared in this remote corner of Colombia.
Finca Lomaverde
Lomaverde is one of five farms that are collectively known as Santa Bárbara Estate. Located just south of Medellín, Santa Bárbara Estate was founded by Pedro Echavarría in the 1970s as a passion project and an escape from the city. In the 1990s Don Pedro acquired Finca Lomaverde and began to focus on increasing the quality and scale of his coffee production. Nearly twenty years later his son, also Pedro, joined the family business and together they began to export their coffees directly under the brand Pergamino. Today, the operation is fully vertically integrated, with Pergamino also encompassing a dry mill, roastery, and several beautiful cafés in Medellín.
Lomaverde is the largest of the five farms and also boasts the highest elevations, up to 1,950 meters. Previously it was mostly planted with variedad Colombia—a rust resistant cultivar commonly planted throughout Colombia—but in recent years the family has replaced much of it with chiroso, hoping to replicate its success in Urrao.
Leave a comment
This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.