Colombia — Jairo Arcila, Santa Monica Chiroso (EF2 Natural)

Tastes Like — 🍉 Watermelon • 🌸 Honeysuckle • 🍇 Red Grape

DETAILS

• Producer: Jairo Arcila
• Farm: Santa Monica
• Region: Quindío, Colombia
• Varietal: Chiroso
• Process: EF2 Natural
• Altitude: 1,900 MASL
• Harvest: March 2026
• Size: 200g

INTRO

Santa Monica is a family-managed farm in Colombia led by Jairo Arcila, where cool temperatures and steady airflow create ideal conditions for both slow cherry development and precise post-harvest work.

This lot is Chiroso, a distinctive Colombian variety known for its elegant and aromatic profile — shaped here through Jairo's balance of tradition and modern processing. The EF2 Natural protocol builds layered fruit complexity whilst preserving the variety's hallmark clarity.

THE PRODUCER

Santa Monica sits in the Quindío department of Colombia at 1,900 MASL, where cool Andean temperatures and steady mountain airflow create textbook conditions for slow, even cherry development. The farm is family-managed by Jairo Arcila — part of the renowned Arcila family that founded Cofinet and operates several of Colombia's most innovative experimental farms.

Jairo's approach balances generations of farming tradition with modern processing science, allowing Santa Monica to consistently produce coffees of exceptional clarity and structure. The farm's elevation, microclimate and meticulous post-harvest discipline together yield lots that punch well above their weight in cupping rooms across the world.

POMA's collaboration with Santa Monica focuses on fermentation, processing techniques and agronomic research — including foliar nutrition and variety testing — to better understand and refine how complexity and clarity are developed in the cup.

THE PROCESS

The EF2 Natural process at Santa Monica involves:

• 🍒 Selective Harvest — Ripe Chiroso cherries are hand-picked at peak maturity, sorted to isolate the densest, most flawless fruit.
• 🧪 Aerobic Fermentation — Whole cherries undergo 24 hours of dry aerobic fermentation, allowing native microorganisms to begin breaking down the sugars in the mucilage and unlocking the variety's flavour potential.
• 🧪 Anaerobic Fermentation — Cherries then transfer into GrainPro bags for 50 hours of anaerobic fermentation, carefully maintained below 22°C to ensure consistent, controlled flavour development.
• 🌡️ Temperature Control — Cool conditions throughout fermentation prevent over-development and preserve the elegant aromatic structure of the Chiroso variety.
• ☀️ Slow Drying — Beans dry on raised beds for around 18 days, with regular rotation to ensure even airflow and uniform moisture loss.
• ✅ Quality Sorting — Final hand-sorting before packaging guarantees only the most consistent beans make the lot.

The result is a vibrant, structured cup with intense fruit character, lifted florality and the clean, juicy finish that defines the EF2 protocol applied to Colombia's most aromatic varieties.

THE CUP

Expect a vibrant, intense and structured cup bursting with fresh watermelon and red grape sweetness, lifted by honeysuckle florals and a clean, juicy finish. The Chiroso variety's elegant aromatic profile shines through the careful EF2 Natural protocol, delivering both depth and clarity.

A textbook example of what happens when a distinctive Colombian variety meets meticulous processing on a high-altitude experimental farm — layered, lifted and unmistakably Chiroso.

Flavour Notes

• 🍉 Watermelon
• 🌸 Honeysuckle
• 🍇 Red Grape