This coffee delivers exactly what its name promises. And it was precisely this straightforward way of expressing its tasting notes that led us to call it Milkshake. The strawberry appears from the first sip, sweet and juicy, accompanied by a creamy vanilla reminiscent of a milkshake. The result is an exuberant, fun, and very accessible cup, capable of surprising both those looking for experimental coffees and those who simply want a sweet and delicious cup. It is a very expressive coffee that grabs your attention from the first sip, but continues to deliver a well-balanced experience cup after cup.
HISTORY
Forest Coffee was founded in 2019 with a clear conviction: that the potential of Colombian coffee was still untapped. But its story begins earlier, in 1995, when the Bayter family arrived in Tolima to cultivate avocado. In 2010, after market fluctuations, they planted their first coffee plants on El Vergel Estate and began to learn the trade from the inside.
By 2017, Martha, Shady, and Elias were already looking for something different. They wanted more than just to sell coffee: they wanted to build a direct connection between producers in the fields and roasters around the world. This search led them to experiment with unconventional processes and to consolidate a working network with coffee-growing families in Tolima, Huila, and Caldas who share the same vision.
Today, Forest Coffee is a network of 250 families across four projects throughout Colombia. El Vergel Estate serves as the operational heart: it is where coffees from different farms and regions converge to be processed with the level of control and precision that distinguishes the project. This Colombia Milkshake is one of those results: a blend that brings together harvests from three different areas under the same roof and with the same criteria: experimental fermentation as its hallmark and cup consistency as its goal.
VARIETAL AND PROCESS
Colombia Milkshake is a blend made with Castillo, Caturra, and Colombia varieties, grown between 1,500 and 1,750 meters above sea level on farms in Tolima, Huila, and Caldas. The cherries are hand-picked at optimal ripeness and transported to El Vergel Estate for processing.
The blend combines two distinct experimental fermentations. In the first, the cherries undergo a 24-hour pre-fermentation, are then pulped, and fermented in airtight tanks for 96 hours with vanilla, an anaerobic process that deepens sweetness and aromatic complexity.
In the second, the cherries are pre-fermented for 24 hours in plastic bags, undergo an additional 24 hours of cherry fermentation, and are then co-fermented in a honey process for 5 days with yeasts and strawberry.
Each batch is mechanically dried, between 3 and 10 days depending on the case, before a final resting period in GrainPro bags. This last step ensures uniform moisture throughout the bean and maintains intact quality until roasting.
RECIPE
We use 18 grams of ground coffee and 306 grams of final water at 93 ºC. We perform three pours. The first is 54 grams, we wait 45 seconds, and then perform two pours of 126 grams for a total time of 2’40”
