Colombia La Riviera Nitro Maceration

Intense aromas of watermelon candies and bubblegum. A flavour journey of watermelon, rock melon, honeydew melon, and candy melon. Sweet, juicy, and an incredibly long aftertaste.

Finca La Riviera is located in Vereda La Estrella in the municipality of Santa Rosa de Cabal in the Risaralda department of Colombia. The farm is situated near the Los Nevados Natural National Park, a 58,300 hectare reserve surrounding the northern volcanic complex formed by Nevado del Ruiz.

Colombia loves to excite us with new and innovative processing methods like this unique nitro washed coffee. At Finca La Riviera, Julio Madrid has designed and perfected different fermentation protocols for a variety of methods, including washed, honey, natural, cold press, culturing, and nitrogen fermentations.

In the nitrogen fermentation process, ripe coffee cherries are subjected to embryonic stress so that the temperature of the cherries rises and falls to 12 degrees, keeping them in the best condition for further processing.

After pulping, the beans are placed in a bioreactor and inoculated with starter cultures (yeast and bacteria) and fruit must. The bioreactor is sealed and injected with nitrogen to facilitate the metabolic processes of the microorganisms. During this time, temperature, acidity, and Brix degrees are closely monitored against past data in order to time the end of the fermentation stage and initiate oxidation.

After leaving the bioreactor, the coffee beans are dried in solar dryers to 40% moisture then transferred to mechanical dryers until reaching 10% - 12% moisture. The resting period in the warehouse is around 45 days before the coffee is hulled and prepared for export.