What do you need to know

This thermal shock process coffee from Jorge Mira’s El Jaragual farm is best enjoyed without milk and brewed as filter coffee. It can make for an interesting and aromatic espresso but can be a more challenging coffee to dial in.

The process

The thermal shock process was pioneered by producers Diego Bermudez and Wilton Benitez. Coffee within this category can be processed in any way to begin with (washed, natural, or honey etc.,) and is then subjected to rapid heating (up to 50 degrees celsius) followed by cooling using cold water. Although the underlying mechanisms of this process are not fully understood yet, it undeniably results in a delicious coffee with complex flavours, often leaning towards unusual and bright fruit notes.

The producer

In 2019 Jonny Martinez and his brother bought the plot of land on which they have established El Jaragual farm. Their cousin, Jorge, currently oversees the production of coffee on the farm. Jorge also harnesses his prior experience as a forestry engineer to conserve large swathes of native forest across the farm, as well as cultivating pine trees for sustainable timber production. The family grows seven different coffee cultivars, including this caturra, under plantain trees and other native species for shade. They are also planting new cultivars less commonly found in Colombia, such as Sidra, from seeds brought back from Ecuador.

The cultivars

Castillo is the most common cultivar grown in Colombia. It is the result of tireless work to produce a more leaf-rust resistant coffee cultivar that maintains cup quality, is sustainable to grow, and requires fewer pesticides and fungicides to thrive. First released in production in 2005, and named after the researcher who developed it - Jaime Castillo - it is a hybridisation of Caturra with Timor cultivars.

Any other business

Step into modern specialty coffee with this introduction to innovation within coffee processing methods and see what fruity notes you can find