Jhoan Vergara – Las Flores – Red Bourbon Creamy Cultured Brilliance

Light roast. Reserve limited release.

Silky, fruit-driven, and indulgently creamy, this Red Bourbon natural from Jhoan Vergara’s Las Flores delivers a layered cup with notes of strawberry candy, pomegranate juice, and banana.

Known by the producer as Creamy Cultured Brilliance, this coffee combines LAB fermentation, controlled oxidation, anaerobic fermentation, and thermal shock. The resulting cup brings together banana and berry sweetness with a creamy finish reminiscent of chocolate ice cream.

Producer: Jhoan Vergara – Las Flores
Origin: Acevedo, Huila, Colombia
Elevation: 1,750 MASL
Variety: Red Bourbon
Process: Creamy Cultured Brilliance Natural • LAB Fermentation • Thermal Shock
Tasting Notes: Strawberry Candy, Pomegranate Juice, Banana
Roast Level: Light
Package Size: 8.8 oz (250 g)
Category: Reserve • Limited Release

Producer & Origin

Jhoan Vergara comes from a multigenerational coffee-producing family in Colombia. His early interest in quality and processing led him to study coffee production as a teenager and eventually take a leading role at Las Flores.

Located in Acevedo, Huila, Las Flores has become known for combining careful cultivation with highly controlled post-harvest experimentation. Jhoan’s work explores how fermentation, temperature, and drying can shape texture and flavor while preserving the identity of each variety.

This Red Bourbon was grown at approximately 1,750 meters above sea level, where Huila’s elevation and climate support slow cherry maturation and complex flavor development.

Processing

Cherries are picked at peak ripeness at approximately 20° Brix and sanitized with a 5% alcohol solution before processing.

The coffee then undergoes:

• 60 hours of controlled oxidation with must circulation
• A 30-minute thermal-shock stage at 50°C
• 80 hours of anaerobic fermentation in sealed plastic bags
• A final 72-hour oxidation stage
• 70 hours of controlled drying in dehumidifiers

The producer describes this as an LAB, or lactic acid bacteria, fermentation profile. This processing approach is designed to create a smooth, creamy texture with cultured complexity and layered fruit sweetness.

About Creamy Cultured Brilliance

Creamy Cultured Brilliance is Jhoan Vergara’s name for a fermentation profile focused on texture, depth, and flavors reminiscent of cultured foods.

The process can produce yogurt-like creaminess alongside baked fruit, jam, watermelon, and strawberry character. In this particular Red Bourbon lot, that profile presents as banana, berries, candy-like sweetness, and chocolate ice cream.

About Red Bourbon

Bourbon is one of the most historically and genetically important Arabica varieties, recognized for excellent cup quality when grown at high elevations.

The variety traveled from Yemen to Bourbon Island, now Réunion, in the early 1700s. It was introduced to Brazil around 1860 and subsequently spread throughout South and Central America.

Recommended V60 Brew Guide

Dose: 27g, medium grind
Water: 405g at 208°F
Ratio: 15:1
Pours: 100g → 100g → 100g → 105g
Total Brew Time: 3:30–4:00

Grind coarser to shorten the brew time or finer to extend it.