NEW GRAND CRU

COlombia CHiroso

This coffee was grown by Jairo Arcila at his farm, Santa Monica in the Quindio region of Colombia. We visited the farm in spring of 2023 and got to see everything up close.

 After tasting this amazing coffee on the cupping table at the Cofinet lab, we wanted to know more. We have never tasted Chiroso before and were intrigued by its fruit forward notes and floral aroma. Luckily for us, the farm was only about 45 minutes away from Cofinet’s headquarters.

After a series of windy roads, we made it to Finca Santa Monica. Here, the farm administrator, Wilmer, showed us around. 

Chiroso is a relatively new variety and is a natural mutation that took place in the region of Antioquia, making it unique and exclusive to this part of the word. For the last 5 years, this varietal has become extremely popular in Colombia for its cup complexity, florals, and citrus notes. It has even won the prestigious Cup of Excellence propelling its popularity.

The Chiroso trees at Santa Monica are young (only 2 years) and they are already yielding viable fruit.  Don Jairo Arcila has planted about 4,000 Chiroso trees on a downward slope in between rows of banana trees.  Banana trees have a very symbiotic relationship with coffee trees. They provide shade and are a valuable water source during a drought.  The banana trees will hold water in their stalks and as the sun beats down on the banana trees, water slowly drips out into the soil.  In total the farm is about 30% shade grown and treated with natural compost fertilizer.  Avocado trees are also part of this ecosystem, providing shade. 

The coffee was carefully hand-picked in order to select only the ripest cherries and then hand sorted to remove any defects. The coffee was sundried on raised beds in temperature controlled conditions until the ideal moisture content was achieved.  This is microlot is 100% Chiroso. 

Over the past few years, we have featured some really stunning coffees from Jairo Arcila, such as Geisha and Papayo.  We are thrilled to build on that and offer this Chiroso variety as a Grand Cru offering.