Jhoan Vergara Java

An intense Java variety from Colombia that tastes of lemongrass.

A Java variety grown at 1,700 metres above sea level that undergoes an elaborate fermentation process, resulting in an exciting explosion of flavour. It tastes of lemon verbena, physalis, candied ginger and redcurrants.

The history of Las Flores Farm dates back to 1990. At the time, Edilberto Vergara and his wife, Nubia Ayure, cultivated a small plot of just two hectares in what is now one of the world’s best-known coffee-growing regions: Huila. Both came from coffee-producing families and must have sensed that this piece of land held enormous potential. Sixteen years later, Nubia proved this by participating in the Colombian Cup of Excellence. By then, the cultivated area had grown from two to sixteen hectares, while the Vergara family had grown by five children. After their mother’s death, the five brothers inherited not only the farm, but also her passion for coffee cultivation.

The new generation thoroughly transformed Las Flores, replacing traditional Caturra varieties with Java, Pink Bourbon and Sidra, and adapting the processing methods to the potential of each location and variety.

Today, Las Flores is one of Huila’s most progressive producers. While Carlos and Diego oversee fermentation and drying, Jhoan focuses on finding the right processing method for each variety, analysing experiments and representing the farm beyond Colombia’s borders.

This Java is our first coffee from our new partnership with Las Flores. The variety was introduced to Indonesia directly from Ethiopia by the Dutch in the 19th century—hence its name. It was later cultivated in Cameroon, where its resistance to disease was discovered, before being brought to Costa Rica and distributed throughout Central America. As was so often the case at the time, the focus was entirely on resistance rather than flavour. Today, we know that Java can produce sensational flavour profiles at elevations above 1,600 metres and is considered an alternative to Gesha. Las Flores, at 1,750 metres above sea level, therefore provides the perfect terroir for this coffee.

On paper, this coffee is classified as “washed”, although its fermentation process is not quite that simple. First, the cherries are oxidised for 24 hours. They are then fermented for 60 hours, washed and subjected to a “thermal shock” at 55°C—a special processing step that you might already recognise from coffees by Diego Bermudez. The coffee is then mechanically dried under controlled conditions for 50 hours. This technique is becoming increasingly widespread and preserves complex flavour profiles far more effectively than uncontrolled, traditional sun drying.