COLOMBIA WILTON BENITEZ YELLOW BOURBON 200G

Wilton Benitez is one of the Colombian producers pushing specialty coffee processing into an exceptionally precise and controlled territory, combining experience at farm level with techniques inspired by microbiology and biotechnology. For Wilton, fermentation is not simply a stage the coffee has to go through, but a tool that can be used intentionally to shape and enhance the aromatic expression of each lot. Although we did have two lots from him in the past, our direct connection with Wilton started at World of Coffee Brussels 2026, where we had the opportunity to meet him, discuss his approach to fermentation and processing, and explore the possibility of working together. This Yellow Bourbon comes from La Macarena, grown at 1,950 meters above sea level. Its processing starts with manually harvested cherries, followed by careful sorting according to both size and density. The selected cherries then undergo two consecutive sanitation stages, first with ozonated water and then with ultraviolet light. Before depulping, the cherries are immersed in water at 90°C for 30 seconds. Once the fruit is pulped, the central part of the process begins. The coffee is transferred into an anaerobic bioreactor and sanitized once again through the injection of ozonated water. Wilton then inoculates the fermentation with Saccharomyces pastorianus, a selected yeast culture, while closely monitoring both pH and sugar concentration, measured in degrees Brix. At the beginning of fermentation, the process is set at a pH of 6 and 18° Brix. Six hours into fermentation, these parameters are checked again and adjusted whenever necessary. The pH can be corrected using citric acid or bicarbonate, while the sugar concentration can be adjusted with honey produced from concentrated coffee mucilage from previous batches. This gives Wilton an unusually high degree of control over the environment in which the fermentation develops. The coffee then continues fermenting for a total of 96 hours, reaching approximately 6° Brix by the end of the process, before entering a controlled drying stage at 38°C. Despite the technical complexity behind the process, the ultimate purpose is remarkably simple: creating a distinctive and delicious cup. The result is an expressive Yellow Bourbon with pronounced sweetness and notes of peach compote, jasmine tea, pineapple and yellow cherries. It represents exactly what attracted us to Wilton's work in the first place — a coffee where advanced processing is used not merely for intensity, but to expand the aromatic possibilities of an already exceptional variety.