Colombia — Jhon Alexander Bermudez Finca La Estrella Chiroso 2nd Harvest (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍍 Ripe Pineapple • ⚡ Bright Acidity • 🌿 Hops

DETAILS

• Producer: Jhon Alexander Bermudez
• Farm: Finca La Estrella
• Region: Urrao, Antioquia, Colombia
• Varietal: Chiroso
• Process: Washed (8-Day Underwater Fermentation)
• Altitude: 1,930 MASL
• Harvest: March 2026
• Size: 250g

INTRO

The second harvest pass from Jhon Alexander Bermudez's Chiroso garden at Finca La Estrella — one of the cornerstone producers in SEY's Urrao project, delivering exceptional quality year after year. An eight-day underwater fermentation at 1,930 MASL produces a cup of vivid tropical character and unmistakable Urrao-Chiroso identity. In the cup: ripe pineapple, bright acidity, and hops.

THE PRODUCER

Jhon Alexander Bermudez farms Finca La Estrella in Urrao with his wife and their two young daughters — a true family operation in one of Colombia's most remote and historically underrepresented coffee-growing regions. Urrao offers extraordinary potential through its extreme elevations and the unique Ethiopian variety known colloquially as Chiroso, and SEY have spent years developing their buying programme there, watching both the quality and international recognition of these coffees continue to grow.

Chiroso is a variety grown primarily in Antioquia, genetically identified as Ethiopian Landrace — though a more specific genetic characterisation remains elusive. Its origins in Urrao are still unclear, but its cup quality at altitude is undeniable. SEY work with exporting partner The Coffee Quest to develop this project and bring Urrao's coffees to the international market year after year.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Finca La Estrella involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Chiroso cherries picked at peak ripeness 💧 Flotation — Floated to further remove defects 🔧 De-pulping — Depulped on the day of harvest to preserve freshness 💧 8-day underwater fermentation — Fermented fully submerged in water for eight days — an unusually extended period made viable by the cool conditions at 1,930 MASL 💦 Washing — Thoroughly washed after fermentation ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Dried on raised beds until moisture content reaches 10.5%

The eight-day underwater fermentation is the defining step — an exceptionally long submerged fermentation made possible and stable by the cool ambient temperatures at nearly 2,000 MASL in Urrao, building the vivid pineapple tropical character and distinctive hoppy complexity that define this second harvest lot, while the same-day depulping preserves the freshness and clean structure that carry through to the finish.

THE CUP

A vivid, tropical, and characteristically hoppy washed Chiroso from one of SEY's most trusted and consistently excellent Urrao producers — ripe pineapple sweetness, a bright and lively acidity, and the unmistakable hoppy complexity that has come to define the best lots from this extraordinary region. Jhon Alexander Bermudez's second harvest, and another exceptional chapter.

Flavour Notes

🍍 Ripe Pineapple ⚡ Bright Acidity 🌿 Hops