Colombia — Daniel Caro Lopez El Tambo Chiroso, End of Season (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍈 Lychee • 🍵 Oolong • 🥭 Mango

DETAILS

• Producer: Daniel Caro Lopez
• Farm: El Tambo (33 hectares, 5 in coffee)
• Region: Güíntar, Anzá, Antioquia, Colombia
• Varietal: Chiroso
• Process: Washed
• Altitude: 2,200 masl
• Harvest: July 2026 (last harvest of the season)
• Farm Gate: 4.5MM COP/Carga ($13.98/kg) | FOB: $17.26/kg | DDP: $20.04/kg

INTRO
This season brought some of the highest-quality Chiroso lots yet seen from the northern Antioquia project, and Daniel Caro's last harvest of the season is a lovely end to an exceptional year. Lychee and oolong lead, with a mango sweetness. In the cup: lychee, oolong, and mango.

THE PRODUCER
Daniel Caro Lopez is a young, second-generation coffee producer introduced by SEY's export partners at The Coffee Quest, with whom they've worked for several years on a project focused on the Chiroso variety cultivated in this region. His farm, El Tambo, is one of the highest in the area at 2,200 masl and spans 33 hectares (about 81 acres), with 5 hectares dedicated to coffee. Daniel primarily grows Chiroso, with a small garden of Gesha.

Chiroso is a new variety grown primarily in Antioquia, only recently gaining attention, and beginning to spread because of its cup quality potential. It has been genetically identified as an Ethiopian Landrace, though nothing more specific is known, and how it came to be cultivated in this region remains a mystery.

THE PROCESS
The Washed process for this lot involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — cherries harvested at peak ripeness
💧 Floating — floated to remove defects
🌱 Same-day de-pulping — de-pulped on the day of harvest
⏱️ Underwater fermentation — fermented underwater for 6 days
☀️ Raised-bed drying — dried on raised beds until moisture reaches roughly 10%

The six-day underwater fermentation is the defining step. It's an unusually long window that builds the lychee and mango sweetness behind this cup, with oolong tea structure running underneath.

THE CUP
Sweet and tea-like: lychee and oolong lead, with a mango finish. A fitting end to an exceptional Chiroso year.

Flavour Notes
🍈 Lychee 🍵 Oolong 🥭 Mango