Chiroso · Finca El Diviso, Pitalito, Huila
Colombia · 1,750 masl · Nestor and Adrian Lasso
Controlled natural, multi-stage: 36 hr oxidation, then ~48 hr sealed at 17-20°C, then 24 hr submerged with the leachate recirculated. Thermal-shock halt, then sealed drying to 10-11% moisture.
El Diviso, the same farm and family as the Nestor Lasso, but a different animal in the cup. Chiroso is a bright, aromatic variety, and the Lasso family's multi-stage natural has layered sweet apple and red fruit over a rounded cocoa base, with a cooling menthol lift that is the signature of this lot.
The brewing job is clarity with roundness. Keep the red fruit and that minty-chocolate top clean, let the cocoa fill in underneath, and do not chase it so hard that the menthol turns medicinal. Sort your roast age, your water and your grind, get clear on the cup you are chasing, then brew.
Magnesium 18, bicarbonate 8 (the lowest we tested), chloride 62. The magnesium lifts the apple-tart acidity and red fruit, the low bicarbonate keeps the brightness and the menthol defined, and the chloride supports the juicy, rounded cocoa this natural is built on.
Juicy and high-clarity. Sweet apple tart and red fruit up top, a rounded cocoa and tamarind-jam middle, and a cooling minty-chocolate lift that defines as it cools. The process should add roundness, not shout over the fruit. If the menthol turns medicinal or the cup goes boozy, drop the temperature before you touch the grind.