Finca Milan
Finca Milan , Finca Riviera and Finca Buenos Aires are family coffee farms. The former has been in the same family for over 40 years. These farms have won numerous awards and championships for their coffee .
Finca Milan is located in the Risaralda department, in the central foothills of the Andes in Colombia. The soil in this area is young and full of nutrients from nearby volcanoes. The weather here has a wide range of temperatures, reaching up to 30ºC during the day and dropping to 15ºC at night. This helps the coffee cherries grow with unique and interesting flavors. Of the 250 hectares of land at Finca Milan, 220 are used to grow different types of coffee, such as Caturra , Castillo , Pink Bourbon and Catiope.
JULIO MADRID AND ANDRES QUICENO
Julio Cesar Madrid Tisnés is a third-generation coffee producer who has dedicated himself to producing high-quality coffees. This dedication has led him to focus on producing coffee varieties that are relatively rare in Colombia and are known for their complex cup profiles, including varieties such as Sudan Rume, Yirgacheffe, Laurina, and several others. Julio's daughter, Maria Antonia Madrid , is a biologist who has studied the organoleptic effects of using microbial starter cultures in coffee fermentation, helping Julio refine his processing methods.
WHAT IS THE NITRO WASHING PROCESS?
In the nitro wash process, fully ripe coffee cherries undergo a controlled stress phase that raises and lowers their temperature to around 12 degrees. This helps to keep the cherries in an optimal condition for further processing. Once the cherries are crushed, the beans are placed in a special container called a bioreactor. Inside the bioreactor, the beans are inoculated with starter cultures consisting of yeast and bacteria, as well as fruit must. The bioreactor is then sealed and nitrogen is injected to create an environment that promotes metabolic activity of the microorganisms. At this stage, the temperature, acidity and Brix degrees are closely monitored by comparing them with previous data. This monitoring ensures that the fermentation process is planned correctly and that oxidation can begin. Once the beans are removed from the bioreactor, they are dried in solar dryers until they reach a moisture level of around 40%. They are then transferred to mechanical dryers to further reduce the moisture content to around 10% - 12%. The beans then undergo a maturing period of approximately 45 days in storage, after which they are dehulled and prepared for export.