ONE OF the most innovative coffee producers in Colombia, if not the world, the Arcila family have become renowned for their exquisite micro-lots and phenomenal cupping scores.

Specialising in alternative fermentation processes, the Arcila’s have evoked powerful change in the Colombian coffee farming community, first pursuing new ideas and then passing them down to individual farmers, helping them to increase cup quality and crop profits.

Zest enjoys a one-to-one relationship with Carlos Arcila, which is one of the reasons we’ve been lucky enough to secure these exciting lots for you!

What makes these lots stand out is the way they have been processed. What begins as a normal honey process quickly gets interesting when different fruits are added to the pulp during the fermentation stage. The addition of peach, mint, lulo, lychee and red fruits have all produced amazingly unique coffee flavours! The distinct presence of these fruits is enough to wow even the most amateur of palates! Get your cupping spoons out and prepare for a whole new appreciation for the possibilities in coffee!

While we have referred to these coffees as fruit-infused, the more precise description would be a fruit maceration. This means simply that actual pieces of fruit were included in the tanks with the coffee cherries during the fermentation. We are swift to make this clear because the word infusion can be taken as some artificial additive or fruit syrup being used post-processing to enhance or modify the flavour of the coffee and this certainly is not the case with these specialty lots.

Maceration is the process of breaking down and softening various substances. When fruit is macerated, it softens and releases some of its flavour and aroma compounds through its plasmodesmata, which are small channels in the wall of a plant cell that allow molecules and substances to pass through (both in and out) as needed. After maceration, the fruit becomes something new, a complex mingling of flavours and textures.