Brothers Elias and Shady Bayter are leading their parents' farm, El Vergel, into its second generation by advocating for "a new way of coffee." This means practicing and promoting natural and experimental processing techniques instead of the traditional washed processing method.
Even as the brothers have taken the reins, their mother, Martha Rubi remains a central figure in El Vergel. By her initiative, "Women Project" was formed with eight women and has now grown to 15. They carry out the critical and meticulous task of selective handpicking to ensure only properly ripe cherries go into processing.
Overall, Elias and Shady's coffee development projects focus on empowering smallholder farmers in their home department, Tolima, with updated knowledge to diversify the flavor profiles their coffees can offer, leading to an increase in their crops' quality and market value. The work they do at El Vergel also serves as an example of best practices from cultivation, harvesting, and through to post-harvest processing.
They also proactively connect with international specialty coffee roasters to match their own and their partners' coffees with the appropriate consumers. Through these connections, they enable the two ends of the coffee value chain to get the fullest benefit.
El Vergel is a 300-hectare estate situated on an inactive volcano called Black Mountain in Fresno, Tolima. Different coffee varieties like Geisha, Pacamara, Caturra, Java, and Bourbon are grown in strategically positioned plots with nutrient rich-volcanic soil across a range of altitudes and microclimates. Their wet mill is also known as a hub for successful explorations into fermentation involving novel inputs, from fruits to microbes like Koji.
The Exporter
Forest Coffee is a platform established by Elias and Shady Bayter for their local farming communities to share best practices, and for their coffee to gain world recognition and better benefit from the international market. They celebrate the time-honored Colombian tradition of producing high-quality coffee by fusing legacy knowledge with innovative techniques.