El Diviso, Colombia (Sidra)

Origin

• 🇨🇴 Colombia· Huila

Tasting notes

Character

• Experimental
  50
• Funky
  40

Region: Huila Producer: Nestor Neffer Lasso Zuñiga Altitude: 1850 MASL Process: WashedWashed processThe fruit is removed from the seed before drying, usually with fermentation and a water rinse. Tends to give clean, transparent cups where origin character shows clearly. VarietyVariety (cultivar)The botanical subtype of the coffee plant — Gesha, Bourbon, SL28 — analogous to grape varieties in wine. A major driver of cup character alongside origin and process.: Sidra BourbonBourbonOne of the two foundational arabica varieties (with Typica), named after Île Bourbon (Réunion). Sweet, balanced, caramel-leaning; parent of countless modern cultivars. Tasting NotesTasting notesThe flavors a roaster perceives in the cup — 'jasmine, apricot, black tea'. Descriptive associations, not ingredients: nothing is added to the coffee.: Grape, Longan, Tic Tac Lime About El Diviso El Diviso is a family-run coffee farm in Pitalito, Huila, led by Nestor Lasso and his brother Adrián. Situated between roughly 1,750 and 1,900 metres above sea level, the farm benefits from high-altitude conditions, volcanic soils, and a relatively cool climate. Nestor Lasso’s reputation in the specialty coffee industry has been shaped as much by competition exposure as by a sustained commitment to production quality. Coffees from El Diviso have been repeatedly selected by top-level baristas for national and world competitions, placing his work firmly within the competitive end of specialty coffee. For a young producer, this level of recognition in only a few years is uncommon and reflects a production approach oriented toward precision rather than scale. Rather than focusing on volume, El Diviso is organised around varietal diversity and microlotMicrolotA small, separately processed and traded parcel of coffee — often a single day's picking from one plot — kept apart because it's exceptional. separation. The farm grows a wide range of Arabica cultivars, including Pink Bourbon, Bourbon Sidra, GeishaGesha (Geisha)A rare, jasmine-and-bergamot scented variety originally from Ethiopia's Gesha forest, made famous by Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda. Routinely the most expensive coffee at auction., Tabi, Red and Yellow Bourbon, CaturraCaturraA natural dwarf mutation of Bourbon found in Brazil: compact plants, easier picking, bright and clean cup. A workhorse across Latin America., CastilloCastilloColombia's leaf-rust-resistant variety, bred by Cenicafé from Caturra and Timor hybrid. Long dismissed by purists, it now wins competitions when grown and processed well., Chiroso, Java, and Pacamara. This diversity allows individual plots and harvests to be processed and evaluated on their own terms. Processing is central to the farm’s identity, with controlled, multi-stage fermentations that often combine aerobic and anaerobicAnaerobic fermentationCherries or depulped seeds ferment in sealed, oxygen-free tanks. Produces intense, unusual flavors — cinnamon, bubblegum, boozy fruit — that divide opinion. phases, sometimes followed by thermal shockThermal shockAn experimental process that hits fermented cherry with rapid hot-then-cold water changes to lock aromatics into the seed. Associated with ultra-expressive competition lots., before slow drying on raised beds or solar dryers. These methods are applied selectively, with an emphasis on repeatability and clarity. The origins of Sidra, or Sidra Bourbon, are not fully documented but studies suggest it traces back to Ecuador’s national hybrid research. Some genetic tests show Sidra to be close to an Ethiopian landraceHeirloom (Ethiopia)A catch-all label for Ethiopia's thousands of indigenous, largely uncatalogued coffee varieties — used when a lot's exact genetics are unknown., while other tests align it with Bourbon and TypicaTypicaThe oldest cultivated arabica lineage, ancestor of most Latin American coffee. Low yield, clean and sweet cup; the baseline other varieties are measured against. hybrids. The variety remains limited in supply and highly sought after in specialty circles due to its rarity an