Colombia La Riviera Nitro Watermelon

JULIO MADRID & JULIO ANDRÉS QUICENO — WATERMELON CO-FERMENT, RISARALDA, COLOMBIA

THE CUP
A festival of fruit and florals in the cup — intensely sweet and bursting with watermelon candy, passionfruit, and red berries. The texture is syrupy and lush, balanced by a soft florality that lingers through the finish. Wild, expressive, and unmistakably joyful — this is the co-ferment that turned heads and stole hearts last season, and it’s back and better than ever.

THE ORIGIN

Producers: Julio Madrid & Julio Andrés Quiceno
Region: Risaralda, Colombia (La Riviera)
Variety: Caturra
Altitude: 1,700–1,850 masl
Process: Anaerobic Co-Fermentation, under Nitrogen (with Watermelon & Passionfruit)

THE PRODUCERS

Julio Madrid and Julio Andrés Quiceno have become known for their meticulous and creative approach to coffee processing in Risaralda. Their work has helped shape Colombia’s modern wave of co-fermented coffees, where precision, fruit inoculation, and careful control of fermentation variables create cups that are as vibrant as they are technically impressive.

Together, they’ve turned what began as an experiment into a refined and repeatable process that highlights the inherent sweetness and structure of Colombian Caturra while introducing new dimensions of aroma and flavour.

THE PROCESS

Ripe Caturra cherries are hand-selected and placed into sealed stainless steel tanks for an anaerobic fermentation charged with nitrogen, ensuring a perfectly oxygen-free environment. Into this carefully controlled setting, fruit inoculates of fresh watermelon and passionfruit are added, infusing the ferment with additional sugars and aromatic compounds.

Over several days, the coffee develops a distinctively tropical sweetness and bright acidity, with the nitrogen environment preserving delicate volatile aromatics. Once fermentation reaches its peak, the coffee is slow-dried on raised beds to stabilise and concentrate those complex flavours.

WHY WE LOVE IT

It’s easy to see why this lot has become a crowd favourite amongst Onyx brewers. Few coffees manage to combine this level of technical precision with such pure sensory joy. It is candy-sweet yet sophisticated - a playful expression of processing innovation done right, and proof that experimental processing can still be deeply balanced and drinkable.

Tastes Like: Watermelon Candy, Passionfruit, Red Fruits, Subtle Florals

What is the roast recency?

Onyx recommend brewing with beans that are at least two weeks off roast. All beans are roasted to peak flavour at around 8-12 weeks. We have the option to either purchase standard beans (at least 2 weeks but no longer than 6 weeks off roast), or rested beans (at least 7 weeks off roast, no longer than 12). For peak flavour, if you are looking to use immediately, we recommend purchasing the rested beans. If you are adding to your rotation of beans, we recommend purchasing the standard and allowing the beans to naturally rest and mature whilst you rotate through other beans.