Colombia Omar Herrera Soto: Sample Coffee Roasters

Colombia
Omar Herrera Soto

We find flavours of rosehip, candied orange, honey

Body Acidity

Omar Herrera Soto has been working in coffee for 15 years.

12 years ago his wife inherited this farm called Divino Niño, and has invested time and energy on improving its quality to move into specialty coffee.

Omar and Family

He says that since working with the specialty market for the past 2-3 years he has been able to better provide for his family. It’s a “100% positive change” because his coffee is evaluated objectively and he can receive feedback on from buyers.

This traceability and feedback loop means he can make changes on the farm and in how he processes his crop to keep improving quality and receive better prices based on the quality he delivers.

Processing tanks at Divino Niño

As part of this focus on quality, Omar has been working with Caravela, our partner in Colombia, for around 2 years. In the words of their quality control team, “He is focused and committed to quality and continuous improvement in processing the coffee and it can be seen in the coffee he delivers. He has been able to produce really good coffees”.

Improving quality grades

Different countries have their own ways of describing grades and sizes of coffee beans.

Caravela grades each coffee when it’s delivered by farmers in each town. To be considered for export by them the coffee needs to score at least 83.

A coffee which scores 84+ is given an A grade, those scoring 85+ are AA, and 86+ is labelled as AAA grade, and 87+ is most commonly sold as a microlot (ML).

The price paid to the farmer increases to reflect the grade.

How Stuff Works has a a short video about the grading and export process at Caravela which was filmed at Popayán

There’s also a great interview with Caravela (previously known as Virmax) about their processes in Colombia and how they work with farmers to improve quality at the Square Mile Roasters blog.

Back to Divino Nino

Coffee drying beds at Divino Niño

In the case of Omar’s latest harvest, he delivered 26% A grade, 50% AA grade, and 24% of AAA and ML, the highest possible grade.

He also grows Peach and Granadilla (a larger relative of the passionfruit) to use at the farm and sell.

Sourcing and ingredients

100% Caturra coffee beans, roasted by us on Gadigal land / Sydney.

Country grade: Unknown ?

Packaging

Bag: ABA Certified home compostable
Label: Recyclable
Valve (on bags larger than 250g): General waste
Coffee ordered online is shipped in a recyclable cardboard box

Brewing this coffee

We recommend brewing this coffee 15–49 days post-roast. If pre-ground, brew as soon as possible. Our advice on storing coffee.

1:3
dose:yield
ratio

To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.

g dose

g yield

View the how to brew espresso (single origin) guide.

1:16.7
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:14.3
beans:water
ratio

To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:12
beans:water
ratio

To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Producer: Omar Herrera Soto
Country: Colombia
Region: Guadalupe, Huila
Altitude: 1600m above sea level
Varietals: Caturra
Process: Washed
Body: Medium
Acidity: Low
Tasting notes: Rosehip, candied orange, honey
Roast style: Omni

Varietals

Caturra varietal

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon that was originally discovered in Brazil in 1937, considered to be the first naturally occurring mutation ever discovered.

The location

Coffee from Colombia

Colombia is one of the largest coffee producers in the world and benefits greatly from having one of the most unique and complex set of micro-climates of all coffee producing nations.

The Huila region of Colombia

This region boasts the perfect combination of high quality soil and geography and is quickly becoming one of the largest coffee producing regions in Colombia. One of the best regarded regions for high quality, fruit driven coffee.

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.