Producer: Elias & Shady Bayter
Farm: El Vergel
Region: Fresno, Tolima
Variety: Pink Bourbon
Process: Koji Supernatural
Altitude: 1460 masl
Harvested: 2024
 
Cupping notes: Almond, cream, green apple, green tea, tangerine, orange
 
It all began in 1995, when the parents of the Bayter Family decided to embark on an agricultural adventure at the El Vergel farm. With passion and dedication, they began to grow avocados, making their farm one of the most productive in the country. However, in 2006 avocado prices dropped sharply due to a disease that severely affected the crop. 
 
 It was then, between 2009 and 2010, when Martha, the Bayter's mother, decided to diversify her crops and save costs by introducing coffee varieties such as catimore, red and yellow caturra, challenging the limits of her knowledge. 
 
As interest in coffee grew, the Bayters embarked on a journey of empirical knowledge about pulping and different types of fermentation. Together with Nelson Moya, a coffee enthusiast who showed them different processing equipment, they immersed themselves in the search for specialty coffees from Colombia and certified their farm as "Rainforest" by the prestigious "Federación Nacional de Cafeteros" between 2014 and 2015. Their dedication and love for coffee began to bear fruit.This is how, in 2016, they met Miguel Jimenez, an expert in varietal and specialty coffees, who guided the Bayters in planting varieties such as Geisha, Java, Pacamara, Red Bourbon and Laurina, giving the first productions of these coffees in 2017, marking a milestone in their trajectory. 
 
As time progressed, the farm was modernized, and in 2018, natural coffee processes were implemented, such as aerobic and anaerobic, and silos were acquired for coffee storage. Little by little they became pioneers of innovation and quality. Currently the Bayter family carries out exhaustive research on bacteria and yeasts to control fermentation together with tireless experimentation of processes, reaching unprecedented levels of excellence in their coffees. Today El Vergel has expanded to have more than 28 varietals spread throughout its lands and is characterized for being the first coffee farm in Colombia to develop the Koji fermentation process, a process that has completely changed the way of developing green coffee.
 
To produce this exceptional coffee, they utilise a method pioneered at El Vergel Estate, featuring Aspergillus Oryzae, a fungus renowned for enhancing flavour profiles. This innovative process involves cultivating the fungus on steamed rice for 3-4 days. Once the fungus has fully grown, the rice is harvested, dried, and ground into a fine powder. This powder is then spread over cherries placed on African raised beds. It is crucial that oxygen is available for the fungus to grow and transform the cherries.

Over a 24 to 72-hour aerobic fermentation period, the koji (the term for the fungal culture) develops, covering most of the cherries as it works to enhance their flavour complexity. Following fermentation, the cherries are dried in two steps: first, with sun drying for 10 days, followed by mechanical drying for 2 to 4 days at a controlled temperature of no more than 38°C to preserve the coffee’s delicate characteristics. Finally, the beans undergo a 20-day stabilisation process in GrainPro bags to ensure stability and optimal preservation. This meticulous process, developed at El Vergel Estate, allows the beans to develop enhanced flavours and complexity while maintaining their freshness and quality.