Tasting Like:  Watermelon Candy, Raspberry Acidity, Verdant, Kool-Aid, Bubblegum, Tingly Citric Acidity, Airy + Refreshingly Unique

Farm: El Vergel Estate
Producers: Mixed
Variety: Field Blend
Process: Extended Fermentation, Watermelon Co-Ferment
Origin: Tolima, Colombia, 
Altitude: 1750masl

Watermelon Co-Ferments. Ah yes. It had to happen. Who doesn't love one? Well nobody of course but we especially have an love for this coffee for not just being a straight co-ferment but in particular having bit more nuance than that. I mean you're buying from Promethium, it has to be unique, right? It's the only thing we source. Someone recently accused us of selling things because of the hype on Reddit (of course it was reddit) - it's definitely not because we offer the coffee of tomorrow that's incredible niche and well curated, roasted and prepared. So if you're into proving people wrong and down to get a lil freaky, this coffee might just be for you. Actually it's definitely for you. (In all seriousness we love you Reddit, you've historically been incredibly kind to us). 

Let's talk about what makes this watermelon sitch special:
El Vergel Estate has one of this industry's greatest comeback stories, run by the Bayter family, primarily the two brothers Elias and Shady alongside their mother Martha. Their farm, originally an avocado farm in 1995, transformed into a Colombian coffee powerhouse after disease crashed avocado prices in the mid 2000's. The Elias family was forced to pivot to coffee cultivation between 2009 and 2010 as a result. Rather than this be a setback, the Bayters embraced it as an opportunity to evolutionize their local Colombian coffee producing. Today, El Vergel spans multiple varieties across twenty-eight different cultivars and holds the distinction of being the first farm in Colombia to develop KOJI fermentation processes, a technique borrowed from Japanese sake production that's completely changed coffee fermentation forever. Not enough people know this, without Koji fermentation, there's a case to be made this coffee and others of your favorites won't currently exist. Their watermelon co-fermentation process here involves a selection of peak-ripe cherries to undergo an extended fermentation alongside fresh watermelon fruit in a controlled anaerobic environment. It allows the natural sugars and organic acids from the watermelon to interact with the coffee's cellular structure during fermentation. This is a long fermentation too, typically over a week-on paper it's the longest watermelon co-ferment we can find. El Vergel is located on the slopes of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Tolima, where Elias and Shady say they benefit most from the naturally super nutrient-dense volcanic soils and microclimates. This original setting is what makes this experimental extended watermelon process possible while maintaining a clean, focused and vartatial focused cup experience.

Recommended Music to accompany brewing: Celestica by Crystal Castles
Includes QR code to applicable Tasting Guide™