GODDESS WEPT, Colombia

Peach, Strawberry, Orange, Vanilla

In 1995, the Bayter family laid their roots into the soil of El Vergel Estate, a parcel of land carved into the shadowed valleys of Tolima. Their hands were first stained not with coffee pulp but with avocado oil, their focus fixed upon fruit of another kind. That path, however, was not to endure. By 2006, with prices collapsing and returns dwindling, the family turned inward. What followed was not reinvention but resurrection. Into the earth they cast seeds of Catimor and Caturra, Red and Yellow alike. From that moment, El Vergel began its slow and deliberate shift toward coffee cultivation.

By 2016, a new chapter emerged. Guided by the precise hand of Miguel Jimenez, the Bayters expanded their ambitions, planting specialty cultivars with intent. Among them, a rare hybrid known as Bourbon Sidra. Born from lineage both ancient and obscure, the variety blends the delicate lineage of Bourbon with the exotic traits of Ethiopian landraces. On this land it has found new expression, vivid, perfumed, complex. It is a varietal of character and contradiction, nurtured not by chance but by conviction.

2 years later, El Vergel took yet another turn. Natural processing became the focus. Fermentation was no longer viewed as a step but as ritual. Koji mold, once used in sake and soy, was introduced to coffee, an alchemical shift few would dare attempt. The outcome was not simply flavour but revelation. What followed was the development of mosto fermentation, a practice forged from curiosity and carried out with eerie precision.

In this most recent expression, cherries are subjected to 72 hrs of sealed fermentation, steeped in lixiviates drawn from prior Java fermentations. These byproducts, dense with bacteria, wild yeasts, and the ghosts of prior lots, transform the fruit with layered nuance. The process is not sterile. It is alive, volatile, almost defiant. Following this, mechanical drying in a controlled silo steadies the lot over 2 - 4 days before it is laid beneath the sun for approx 18 days. A final 30 days of rest ensue, sealed in darkness within Grainpro, where sugars settle and structure aligns.

The lixiviates themselves are not discarded. These microbial liquids are harvested and cooled to 3°c. They are then revived with water and sugar, their microbial chorus reawakened for the next cycle.

Behind all this stand three figures, Martha Montenegro and her sons Elias and Shady. Together they are not simply producers. They are caretakers of something greater. Their vision for El Vergel transcends yield or scale. It is a quiet upheaval, a fusion of biotechnical intuition and rural legacy. Through process, varietal, and unyielding will, they have conjured something sacred.