Competition Colombia Oscar Hernandéz

Product detailed description

Competition Colombia Oscar Hernandéz

Taste profile: passionfruit, mango, cinnamon and cashews

Region: Huila

Farm: Los Nogales

Farmer: Oscar Hernandéz

Variety: 100% arabica Castillo Naranjo

Process: washed with double fermentation

Atitude:  1 650 m.n.m. 

Harvest: listopad - prosinec 2023

Barista championship in the Czech republic 2024

In the spring, Vendula Vacková, a barista and manager of one of our Dos Mundos branches, participated in the Barista of the Year 2024 competition with a coffee that stands out for its interesting flavor profile and rich story about the Los Nogales farm. Although she failed to make it to the next round, this opportunity marked another significant step in her barista career.  The competition provided her with a unique opportunity to share her passion for coffee and receive valuable feedback from industry experts. Vendula perceives this experience as a great enrichment that will help her in further professional growth and the development of her barista skills.

The farm

Finca Los Nogales is a family farm, or rather a company, that combines tradition with innovation. It is located in the hamlet of El Diamante, just outside the town of Bruselas in the southern part of the Huila department.

The three pillars of Fincy Los Nogales' approach:

Terroir – the soil gives us life and also gives it to the coffee trees that grow on it. If we just exploit the land and don't take care of it, we will soon have nowhere to grow coffee. In contrast to intensive farming and the conventional approach to fertilization, the entire Los Nogales team thinks about long-term sustainability.

1. Terroir – the soil gives us life and also gives it to the coffee trees that grow on it. If we just exploit the land and don't take care of it, we will soon have nowhere to grow coffee. In contrast to intensive farming and the conventional approach to fertilization, the entire Los Nogales team thinks about long-term sustainability. However, less intensive, but also less concentrated and more complex cultivation in the long term ensures that future generations will also be able to grow coffee on the same land.

2. Genetics – the second important ingredient in coffee production is genetic material. That is, the varieties you choose to work with. At Los Nogales Farm you will find traditional indigenous varieties of Arabica that have been grown in Colombia since the 18th century, such as Týpica, newer more resistant varieties such as Castillo or Colombia, but also exotic varieties imported from other countries and continents such as Gesha or Sudan Rume.
3. Science and passion – at Los Nogales, innovation is at stake. The coffee world is constantly evolving and its connection with scientific knowledge is becoming more and more commonplace, or rather a necessity. Therefore, Oscar uses the experience of biochemists, agricultural engineers, microbiologists, but also the experience of accountants in the team, and he himself is a very capable manager. No one lacks passion for what they do, they pull together and if they have any differences of opinion among themselves, they take it as an asset.

 Variety of Castillo Naranjo

The variety disappeared as a hybrid of the Caturra variety in Colombia in the 1970s. Today, coffee trees of this variety are grown alongside Caturra and other varieties, which means that these coffee plantations do not need to be chemically treated to a large extent. First, only ripe coffee cherries are harvested, followed by cleaning and disinfection with water in the washing station, as well as a thermal shock that breaks down the sugars and pasteurizes the beans for a better taste. The coffee cherries are further dehulled and the beans are fermented twice, each fermentation taking place with the help of different bacteria for 80 hours. The coffee is then dried for 28 days on African beds to preserve the flavor. Finally, the beans were stored in beer barrels, which added a complex flavor detail to the coffee.