Shoebox Coffee Roasters - Sergio Caro Chiroso Washed | Colombia

---

Colombia — Sergio Caro Los Pinos Chiroso (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🫐 Blue Raspberry • 🍵 White Tea • 🌸 Jasmine

DETAILS

• Producer: Sergio Caro
• Farm: Los Pinos
• Region: Urrao, Antioquia, Colombia
• Varietal: Chiroso
• Process: Washed (72hr Underwater In-Cherry Fermentation)
• Altitude: 2,400 MASL
• Source: Unblended Coffee

INTRO

Tierra de Diversidad 2025 winner — Sergio Caro's first ever harvest, produced at just 26 years old from one of the highest farms in all of Colombia. At 2,400 MASL in Urrao, Los Pinos produces an explosive, process-forward Chiroso of remarkable cleanliness despite a 72-hour underwater fermentation. In the cup: blue raspberry candy intensity, a white tea-like texture, and tons of delicate jasmine florality.

THE PRODUCER

Sergio Caro began his coffee career learning within the Urrao producers' cooperative championed by the Unblended team — alongside producers like Viktor Pineda and Daniel Hernandez, whose coffees have become celebrated as intensely floral and fruited expressions of the Chiroso variety that defines the region. At just 26, Sergio has already produced a competition-winning lot from his very first harvest — a remarkable debut from a producer whose farm Los Pinos sits at a soaring 2,400 MASL, providing one of the most extreme and unique microclimates for coffee production anywhere in Colombia.

The farm is tiny and tightly run: half a hectare, four employees, and just under 1,000kg produced for the lot that won the Tierra de Diversidad competition. The focus at every stage is quality — from the exceptionally high growing altitude that concentrates aromatic compounds and slows cherry development, through to the meticulously controlled fermentation and shaded drying.

Chiroso is a variety grown primarily in Antioquia, genetically identified as Ethiopian Landrace. Associated with vivid tropical fruit and a naturally expressive aromatic profile, it reaches extraordinary heights of floral and berry complexity when grown at altitude in Urrao — and at 2,400 MASL, Sergio's lot is among the most elevated and expressive expressions of the variety yet seen.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Los Pinos involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Chiroso cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 💧 72-hour underwater in-cherry fermentation — Whole cherries fermented submerged in water for 72 hours — a long fermentation made possible by the cool climate at 2,400 MASL, which slows microbial activity and produces a surprisingly clean result 🔧 Depulping — Outer skin removed after fermentation ☀️ Shaded raised-bed drying — Dried on shaded raised beds for 2–3 weeks to optimal moisture content

The 72-hour underwater in-cherry fermentation is the defining step — an unusually long period made viable only by the extreme altitude, which keeps temperatures cool enough to slow fermentation and prevent the cup becoming dominated by process character. The result is an explosive mixed berry complexity that sits alongside the Chiroso's inherent florality with remarkable cleanness and definition.

THE CUP

A competition-winning, explosively fruited, and intensely floral washed Chiroso from one of Colombia's highest farms — blue raspberry candy intensity up front, a white tea-like texture that carries through the mid-palate, and a delicate jasmine florality that lingers long into the finish. Sergio Caro's debut harvest, and one of the most exciting Chiroso lots Urrao has produced.

Flavour Notes

🫐 Blue Raspberry 🍵 White Tea 🌸 Jasmine