Colombia - Quebraditas Advanced Natural Chiroso

Brew Guide:

Best Brewed with: Filter

Lightest Roaster Influence: Mega high processing intervention made this one of our lowest end temperatures yet - chasing clarity and acidity, without high process character.

Best Rested: 3-4 weeks

Filter: 60g/L & 94°C, with rest we like to move down to 60g/L & 91°C

Espresso: Turbo shots + 3 weeks rest. 18g/50g+ & 20s - we prefer when this coffee is more dilute

We’re tasting: Very process heavy aromatics of boozy strawberry & white chocolate truffles. In the cup it's very reminiscent of Campino sweets - ripe strawberries and sweet cream as the dominant note. Adding complexity there's elderberry syrup, blackberry, banana foam sweets and a very mild hint of sloe gin that integrates well with the process character of the cup. Incredibly sweet + rich, like a dessert in a cup.

Traceability

The Story

This lot features Chiroso, a variety that was misidentified as a Caturra mutation for over a decade until DNA analysis revealed it to be an Ethiopian landrace. The variety was discovered in Urrao, Antioquia, and gained recognition when Carmen Montoya's lot scored 91.3 points in the 2014 Colombian Cup of Excellence - the highest score that year.

Three distinct phenotypes exist in Urrao: the original Bourbon Chiroso (taller), Caturra Chiroso (dwarf), and base Chiroso. Research suggests Caturra Chiroso appears to be a regression of Bourbon Chiroso, with small percentages of Bourbon Chiroso seeds yielding the shorter variety. Both types produce different cherry characteristics - some deep red, others yellow/orange, requiring selective harvesting for optimal quality.

The Chiroso grown both at Quebraditas and at Chorro Alto (Luz Ángela's family farm) are both the Caturra Chiroso phentotype.

The variety responds particularly well to high-level processing intervention due to its Ethiopian genetics and high sugar content, making it an ideal canvas for Edinson's advanced fermentation techniques.

Quebraditas 

Orphaned and working from age 11, Edinson Argote found coffee after his military service at a Colombian buying station. He mastered quality control and fermentation techniques while running QC at a major Piendamó farm, then launched Quebraditas - an 8-hectare farm planted with exotic varieties. His girlfriend Luz Angela's family already had a traditional 10-hectare farm called Chorro Alto. While Quebraditas is still young, Edinson's processing knowledge has proven vital in his partnership with El Jaragual, helping establish it as speciality coffee's newest standout producer.

Colombia's position as the epicentre of experimental processing continues evolving — knowledge spreading beyond initial pioneers into a wider network of skilled producers. We're seeing more variety offered in these high technical intervention lots, and even the spread outside of Colombia (We've seen in the previous few months producers in Peru, India and Ethiopia start to deploy these techniques).

We were stoked to be on the first wave of roasters offering coffee from Edinson and Luz - his Gesha was a standout of the 2024 offer. Meeting Edinson and Luz Angela at Manchester's Altogether Brewing event was a brilliant moment of connection and we're stoked to keep promoting their work.