At the SCASA Nationals last weekend, the coffees showcased on stage were the best of the best. We asked the teams to provide some insight into their coffees and the innovative ways the farmers produced those coffees. Much like wine, its what you do with the raw product where incredible coffees can become exceptional.
Coffee: Geisha
Process: Antimaceration
What is antimaceration you ask? We turned to Chad Goddard of Father Coffee for some insight. We mistook it for another coffee, the Zeo Geisha which employs Non Fermentation, so in fact we learned about 2 crazy processing methods and we though you would find it interesting too!
Zeo is meant to present a coffee with no fermentation at all: gets picked, sterilised in ozone, blast chilled to -40°, then placed inside the vac chamber on trays of Zeolite (hence the name). The vacuum gets released and the liquid in the cherry (now frozen solid) sublimates into a gas as a result of the reduced boiling point created by the negative pressure. Coffee goes from tree to ready to roast in 10hrs. The result is a coffee with as close to zero fermentation as possible. Profile is very light and elegant. Tastes like actual coffee cherry
Antimaceration is a bit of a misnomer, it has a very long steep, but doesn’t macerate in the traditional sense. It’s an anaerobic fermentation, but unlike most anaerobic fermentation where the oxygen is displaced by the introduction of another gas (usually carbon dioxide or nitrogen) or where an over pressure valve releases the gas build up as the juices ferment (the cheaper blue barrel approach), Antimaceration gets into its anaerobic state by being placed in a vacuum chamber (but this is where the Zeo similarity ends)
The coffee spends 60 days in the chamber with a vacuum pump pulling off any oxygen or gas constantly. This creates negative pressure in the chamber. The result is the liquid is drawn off the cherry and pools in the trays causing the seeds to bath in their own fruit juice for 2 months. The pores of the seeds are opened up massively by the low pressure. As there’s no oxygen or heat and negative pressure isn’t a great environment for microbial activity they have to add lactobacillus to keep the fermentation going. The fruit though remains bright red like the day it was picked for the whole period as there’s no oxidation. Once complete it’s dried using low temp dehumidified air to get moisture content down to dormant in 30hrs
Unlike Zeo it’s vvvvv (that’s a lot of very)intense. Unlike most anaerobic ferments where the result tends to result in an artificial version of a classic fruit note (not intended as an insult at all), the fruit notes on Antimaceration remain closer to true fruit notes, just very pronounced. Alongside this the coffee has some unusual characteristics you wouldn’t normally find in a geisha – the fruit and florals are there, but also big chocolate (apparently a result of the lactobacillus strain used), spice and a very obvious cola note.
Ps. Also a literal nightmare to roast as the green coffee arrived almost brown (from the cherry juice soak). And the pores are very open so it takes on heat faster than expected. Weirdly needs much more resting time as well. We still aren’t sure where the sweet spot is, all the roasts we’ve done keep getting more intense each week. The oldest is 6 weeks.
Another Ps. The soak is diff to a mosto or leachate soak as that typically involves an inoculated liquid run-off from a prior fermentation. This stuff basically bathes in its own juice.
And finally, to explain the name: it’s anti-maceration in the sense that it is anaerobic without requiring another gas addition like in carbonic maceration.
Coffee: Chiroso Caturra
Process: Natural
Fermentation: 3x stages Aerobic and 2 Stages Anaerobic
Breakdown
12 Hours Aerobic Fermentation in Bags
50 Hours Anaerobic Thermal Shock at 16 - 18 degrees
60 Hours Aerobic in tanks.
70 Hours Anaerobic in Leachate (original water used for first anaerobic fermentation)
Canopy drying at 32 degrees until coffee reaches an 18% moisture content.
60 Hours Aerobic Fermentation in black bags in dark room.
Drying until 11% Moisture Content.
Roasting:
Charge Temp: 175
End Temp: 208
Time: 8:30
Development: 12.9%
Espresso
Dose: 23g
Yield: 60g
Time: 26sec
Flavours: Fermented Dark Cherry, Peach, Grapefruit
From Jhoan Verghara:
"Finca Las Flores was established in 1990 by Edilberto Vergara and Nubia Ayure, both originally from the department of Cundinamarca. Children of coffee growers, they inherited a deep passion for the land—and especially for coffee. The farm covers 16 hectares (160,000 square metres). When they arrived, only 2 hectares were planted with coffee, and that is where my parents began their journey—gradually cultivating the rest of the land. By 1998, the entire farm was under coffee production.
By then, the family had grown to five children, from eldest to youngest: Xiomara, Leonardo, Carlos, Jhoan, and Diego. Back then, the traditional cycle was simple: grow, harvest, wash, dry, and sell. That was the coffee production routine.
In 2006, my mother took the initiative to compete in the Cup of Excellence, where she placed 30th. This marked our first step into the world of specialty coffee. A few years later, our mother passed away, leaving behind a profound legacy—one that we are committed to upholding. She believed passionately that the future of farming lay in learning—especially in understanding coffee in depth.
As we, her children, grew older, we began to ask ourselves many questions. What happens after we sell our coffee? Where does it go? How could we improve? Was there a broader market out there? Jhoan took it upon himself to investigate further. He enrolled in a public institution called SENA, where he gained both theoretical and practical knowledge related to coffee. He learned about better agricultural practices to improve every link in the coffee production chain, with a strong focus on cup quality.
During this time, we began replacing our traditional Caturra variety and started visiting other producers, exploring different coffee varieties, cupping, and analysing sensory profiles that matched the altitude and soil of our farm."
*GENERATIONAL TRANSITION*
Fully immersed in quality, Jhoan and Diego decided to take the next step: developing consistent flavour profiles that would highlight each variety’s potential. Each of the family members has a vital role on the farm. Diego is responsible for processing—managing fermentation times, overseeing various processing methods, and ensuring careful drying. Jhoan handles the analysis of these experiments, determines which process suits each variety best, and evaluates the quality. He also manages the commercial side—sharing the story and work with the world.
Over time, they have developed a range of processing methods, including Natural, Honey, Hydro Honey, and Washed, allowing us to highlight the unique characteristics of each coffee variety.
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