Colombia BANANA SWIRLfrom the Slovak roastery CONCEPT is a coffee that immediately captures your attention with its intense sweetness and distinctly fruity character. The aroma of ripe banana, vanilla, and chocolate brownies unfolds at the very first whiff, while the flavor is complemented by juicy pineapple and citrus acidity, which beautifully brightens the entire profile. This naturally processed Colombian coffee is creamy, velvety, and very sweet, yet retains its liveliness and clarity. When brewed with a filter, its tropical fruitiness and long, juicy aftertaste really shine. Banana Swirl is a bold, modern, and experimental coffee for anyone who wants to try something more daring than the classic chocolate-nut coffee.
The coffee comes from the Peñas Blancas center in the Acevedo area of the Huila region, one of Colombia’s most important coffee-growing regions. Behind the project are producers Nestor Lasso and Jhon Vergara, who are known for their experimental approach to coffee processing and their emphasis on the highest quality of micro-lots. But Peñas Blancas is not just an ordinary processing station. It also functions as a social project supporting local smallholder farmers who would otherwise have difficulty gaining access to modern processing methods or better purchase prices. Producers here can take advantage of professional infrastructure, technical training, and controlled fermentation processes that significantly enhance the quality of the resulting coffee. The farms are located at altitudes between 1,600 and 1,900 meters, where the combination of a mountain climate, volcanic soil, and slower cherry ripening creates ideal conditions for complex and sweet coffees with pronounced acidity. Furthermore, the Caturra variety can offer a very clean and intense flavor profile here, provided it receives the proper care.
The character of Banana Swirl is fundamentally shaped bythe Palatino natural process, which is among the more modern experimental processing methods. After harvest, the cherries are left to ferment in a controlled anaerobic environment without oxygen, which promotes the development of distinctly fruity and sweet notes. The coffee is then slowly dried whole-berry on raised beds or in controlled drying systems to preserve the stability and purity of its flavors. It is precisely this longer fermentation and slower drying that give this coffee its creamy body, intense tropical sweetness, and dessert-like character reminiscent of banana cream, vanilla, and brownies. At the same time, however, the cup retains a lively citrus acidity and juiciness, thanks to which it does not feel heavy or overly cloying. The result is a modern, distinctive, and perfectly balanced Colombian coffee that can surprise even experienced specialty coffee lovers.
- Producers: Nestor Lasso and Jhon Vergara
- Processing station: Peñas Blancas
- Altitude: 1,600–1,900 m a.s.l.