Wilton Benitez SL-28
Acidity: Winey
Producer: Wilton Benitez
Variety: SL-28
Growing Elevation: 1950 Meters
Processing: Sterilization with Ozonoated Water & Ultraviolet Light. Double Thermal Shock Treament. Double Anaerobic Yeast Fermentation. Controlled Drying.
Certifications: Direct Trade, Sustainably Grown
Region: Piendamó, Cauca, Colombia.
Our Wilton Benitez SL-28 is back! This special coffee comes from Wilton Benitez’s competition series (the ultra special coffees he singles out for use in national and international barista competitions) and a previous lot of this coffee was recently used by Edwin Tascon to win 1st place in Colombia’s national barista competition! This single origin lot is comprised solely of the SL-28 variety and displays coveted flavors unique to that variety (think fruity, berry forward and wine-like), coupled with flavors reminiscent of the terroir of Colombia which often produces ultra sweet, fruity, and floral coffees. Add to this Wilton’s unique processing and the result is coffee magic. Every time we cup this coffee, we are blown away by it’s depth and complexity. We called this coffee winey and elegant and tasted berry jam, freesia, pink starburst, strawberry, cherry, blueberry Italian soda, jasmine, and lychee. A must-try coffee for anyone seeking a unique and special coffee experience!
The unique process at the farm level. Wilton Benitez is at the forefront of innovation in coffee processing and is doing amazing things to create unique and masterful flavors. He is a chemical engineer turned high-end coffee grower and his science background, coupled with decades of experience in coffee growing/tasting, have led to some of the most unique and nuanced coffees we’ve experienced. Selectively harvested ripe cherries are first sterilized with ozonated water in a chamber that also separates the coffee cherry based on bean size and removes foreign material. The coffee is then sterilized with ultraviolet and a separator further works to rid the lot of any unripe cherries. This particular lot then underwent a thermal shock treatment while in cherry form where it was hit first with hot water and then with cold water. During this phase there are numerous biochemical changes occuring in the coffee, impacting flavors and the next fermentation stages. Our founder Michael, who spent a week at Wilton’s farm, also added that “during this stage when the coffee cools, it absorbs the flavors of the mucilage. This stage is unique because it doesn’t lead to over fermented flavors but instead just the clean, sugary flavors of the mucilage.” This coffee next undergoes an anaerobic yeast fermentation in cherry in bioreactors. Next, the coffee is depulped and after this, a second thermal shock treatment takes place. Then a second double anaerobic yeast fermentation also takes place after which the coffee seeds are gently washed, stopping the fermentation and getting the seeds ready for drying. The coffee then undergoes controlled drying in ecological drying chambers until the beans reach 10.5% internal humidity.
