Colombia — Alvaro Vargas Urrao Chiroso (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍮 Dulce de Leche • 🍊 Ripe Citrus • 🍬 Sugar Cane

DETAILS

• Producer: Alvaro Vargas
• Region: Urrao, Antioquia, Colombia
• Varietal: Chiroso
• Process: Washed (4-Day Dry Open Fermentation)
• Altitude: 2,200 MASL
• Harvest: February 2026
• Size: 250g

INTRO

From Señor Alvaro Vargas — a charming producer with a well-tended garden-farm of Chiroso at 2,200 MASL in Urrao, and a distinguished lot among so many excellent coffees from the region this year. Sweet upfront, honeyed on the finish, and viscid in texture. In the cup: dulce de leche, ripe citrus, and sugar cane, with plum, black cherry, and stone fruit woven throughout.

THE PRODUCER

Alvaro Vargas comes from a family with deep roots in coffee farming and cattle ranching in Urrao. He is now beginning to carve his own path in specialty coffee — a journey still in its early stages, but one already marked by discipline, competition experience, and a commitment to quality that has earned him a finalist position in regional coffee competitions. Since Flower Child started working with him in 2025, his lot has consistently stood out. His daughter often accompanies him in the daily work on the farm, making coffee a shared family endeavour.

At 2,200 MASL in Urrao, Alvaro's Chiroso garden is among the highest-altitude expressions of the variety in the region — where the cool temperatures, volcanic soils, and slow cherry development concentrate the aromatic compounds and sweetness that define his cup. Chiroso is an Ethiopian Landrace variety of uncertain provenance in Antioquia, but its potential for soft florality and tropical nuance at high altitude is now well established — and Alvaro's lot is a distinguished example of exactly that.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Alvaro's farm involves:

🍒 Hand-picking & selection — Cherries harvested and hand-selected for ripeness 💧 Flotation — Floated to remove defects and unripe beans before processing 🔧 Immediate depulping — Depulped immediately after flotation 🧪 4-day dry open fermentation — Coffee seeds fermented dry in open tanks for four full days 💧 Washing — Thoroughly washed after fermentation to remove all residue ☀️ Sun-bed drying — Dried on sun-bed driers for approximately 20 days 🔒 GrainPro resting — Kept in GrainPro bags for a further 20 days before dry milling

The four-day dry open fermentation is the defining step — a long, open-air dry fermentation that builds the deep dulce de leche sweetness, plum and black cherry fruit character, and honeyed, viscid finish that define this lot. The 20-day sun-bed drying and extended GrainPro rest ensure full stabilisation before milling, allowing the profile to integrate completely.

THE CUP

A sweet, honeyed, and viscidly satisfying washed Chiroso from one of Urrao's most promising emerging producers — dulce de leche warmth, ripe citrus brightness, and sugar cane sweetness upfront, deepening into plum, black cherry, and stone fruit, with caramel and spring florals emerging beautifully when brewed as espresso or with milk.

Flavour Notes

🍮 Dulce de Leche 🍊 Ripe Citrus 🍬 Sugar Cane