Colombia Finca Los Alpes Natural Carbonic Fermentation

In the mountains of Antioquia, where the slopes climb past 2,000 meters, Juan David Cardona runs a small farm called Finca Los Alpes. Here, ripe cherries are sealed into oxygen-free baskets and left to transform. The result is a Colombian coffee built around fermentation rather than fruit alone.

OriginColombia RegionAntioquia Elevation2,000m ProcessNatural, Carbonic Maceration VarietyCaturra The Source

A Farm in the Antioquian Highlands

Colombia ranks among the top three coffee producers in the world, and Antioquia sits at the heart of its reputation. The department's rugged, mountainous terrain swings between roughly 12 and 28 degrees Celsius across a single day, a wide diurnal shift that slows cherry maturation and concentrates sugar in the fruit. Finca Los Alpes works these high slopes, where thin air and cool nights reward patience.

Juan David Cardona manages the farm with a focus on controlled fermentation, treating each lot as an experiment in flavor rather than a commodity. At this altitude, the Caturra trees develop dense, slow-ripened cherries that hold up to the long processing this coffee demands. Cardona's attention to detail begins in the field and carries through every stage that follows.

The Craft

Seventy-Two Hours in a Sealed Basket

This lot is processed as a natural with carbonic maceration, a method borrowed from winemaking and adapted for coffee. Whole cherries first sit through a 16-hour pre-fermentation, then move into hermetic baskets where carbon dioxide is piped in to push out oxygen. They ferment in this CO2-rich environment for 72 hours, a lactic stage that develops deep, layered fruit. Afterward the cherries rest in a controlled cellar for 68 days before drying completes. To understand how this differs from a clean washed lot, see our guide to processing methods.

We roast this coffee to City+, a medium-light level that protects the fermentation character without scorching it. Roasting darker would flatten the peach and pomegranate notes that make carbonic Colombians worth the effort. The goal is a clean, expressive cup that shows what 88 days of careful handling can build.

Peach Pomegranate Blackberry Honey BodyFull AcidityBright The Cup

Fermented Fruit, Front to Finish

The cup opens with ripe peach and plum, then deepens into pomegranate and blackberry as it cools. A coat of honey-like sweetness rounds the body, while the carbonic fermentation lends a wine-like edge that lingers without turning sharp. This is a coffee with presence, expressive and layered, the kind of cup that rewards slow sipping over a quiet morning.

Find Your Fix

This lot shines through a V60 or Chemex, where the bright acidity and fermented fruit stay clear and defined. An Aeropress pulls more body forward, and cold brew turns the honey sweetness into something almost juicy. Explore the rest of our coffee beans and find your fix.

Roasted in small batches at our Virginia Beach roastery.

Packaged in reusable glass mason jars, returned locally for reuse. Solar-roasted.

Virginia Beach, VA