LA ROCA STATE
Jorge Elías Rojas is a successful coffee producer, taster and roaster. Jorge was only 12 years old when he started working on the farm with his mother after the sudden death of his father, and for the last 22 years he has dedicated himself to the hard work of agriculture.
La Roca State is located in Planadas Tolima in the village of La Armenia at 1900 M, its lands are home to a great variety of endemic birds, and are surrounded by great vegetation and several waterfalls, where he has 3 hectares planted with coffee, with traditional coffees such as Caturra and Yellow Caturra and some exotic ones such as Geisha, Tabí, Pacamara, Moka, Wush-Wush and Bourbon Rosado.
Jorge has become an expert taster and grower, constantly integrating improvements to his farm in both infrastructure and management of all aspects of the process, from planting to weeding, pruning, harvesting, fermentation, processing and drying. He takes a very meticulous and scientific approach to his processes, transforming the ripe coffee fruit into small batches of speciality coffee, letting each one stand out in its own right. Jorge not only adopts all his knowledge in his own projects, but shares his approach with other households in the community, giving workshops and talks.
The Roca State coffee lots are characterized by their good body, balance in their citrus, floral and sweet flavours, Jorge has dedicated a great effort from planting, harvesting, selection, processing and especially in their forms of drying, reviewing some Colombian biography on the processes of drying coffee and the great influence that this has against the final cup, we have understood why Jorge devotes great effort and dedication in drying where he plays with temperatures between 32 and 38 º C in the drying hours that are usually 140 hours.
Jorge uses different ways of drying depending on the complexity he wants to obtain at the end of his cup, having in his facilities two different ways such as: Drying in raisins or African beds and mechanical drying where he can control temperature and humidity, in some batches of competition coffees he uses both types of drying.
When the coffee comes out of the drying phase its storage also plays an important role, depending on the storage time for the stabilisation of the coffee, Jorge’s team stirs the coffee between 6 and 7 times a day, to guarantee homogeneity in the process.
Jorge has a son, Felipe, who always accompanies him in his daily work of toasting samples, reading the brix degrees of the ripe cherries for further processing, making him the 5th generation of coffee growers in his family.
Thanks to the good example and love of coffee that he has passed on to his son, Felipe is now involved in the coffee cupping and brewing events that are being held in Colombia to encourage the country’s children.
Jorge’s skill is visible to the naked eye, and he pours it all into his farm, his family and his community, his coffees have caused a sensation and the accolades are piling up.
– October 2023 3rd place in cup excellence Colombia with Geisha, coffee grower Angel Rojas.
– October 2023 24th place in Cup of Excellence Colombia with Geisha, coffee grower Jorge Elías Rojas.
– August 2023 first place in the Traditional category of the Colombian Top Roast contest.
– 2023 second place in the Processed category of the Colombian Gold Cup contest.
– March 2023 champion in the Intercentros Aeropress Championship of Tolima.
– 2022 third place in the ACE Colombian Cup of Excellence with Geisha Honey.
Jorge, in particular, is grateful for Fresh Farmer’s trust and commitment in being the first to bring Colombia’s specialty coffee, including the better known Gesha, to the demanding Chinese market. This bold initiative has not only opened up new business opportunities for Jorge, but has also allowed the richness and diversity of Colombian coffees to be shared with the world. This great business relationship that has been forged since November 2020 has allowed them together to transform the coffee industry and take the unique taste and culture of Colombian coffee to new horizons.
PROCESSES: GEISHA HONEY (Cup of Excellence, Ángel Rojas)
– Harvesting of ripe cherries.
– Selection of cherries with 22 brix degrees.
– Flocking to remove bad, overripe, green berries and burs.
– First fermentation in cherry for 48 hours at pH 6 and 4 at 20 ºC.
– Pulping of the coffee.
– Second fermentation for 12 hours at pH 5 at 20 ºC.
– Mechanical drying process begins for 10 days at a temperature of 32 to 38 ºC with controlled humidity of 10%.
– It is stored for 30 days to stabilise the coffee, during these days the coffee is stirred 7 times a day.
GEISHA HONEY (Cup of Excellence, Jorge Rojas)
– Harvesting of ripe cherries.
– Selection of cherries with 23 brix degrees.
– Floats to remove bad, overripe, green berries and burs.
– Fermentation in cherry for 72 hours at pH 6 and 4.5 at 18 ºC.
– Pulping of the coffee.
– Mechanical drying process begins for 10 days at a temperature of 32 to 38 ºC with controlled humidity of 10%.
– It is stored for 60 days to stabilise the coffee, during these days the coffee is stirred 7 times a day.
