Origin: Tolima — Colombia's Volcanic Coffee Belt

El Vergel Estate sits in the municipality of Fresno, in Colombia's Tolima department — a region defined by its proximity to the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, one of the most active in South America. The farm rests on the slopes leading toward the volcano, and the microclimate created by this geography is one of El Vergel's most valuable assets. Cooling volcanic air descends from the snow-capped peak, moderating temperatures across the farm's multiple elevation plots and creating conditions that slow cherry maturation and build aromatic complexity.

Tolima sits in the upper Magdalena River valley, surrounded by the Central Andes. The region has historically been overlooked relative to Huila and Antioquia in terms of specialty recognition, but a wave of innovative producers — El Vergel foremost among them — has changed that entirely over the past decade. Fresno's rich volcanic soils, reliable rainfall, and dramatic altitude variation across short distances give producers the flexibility to grow an unusually wide range of varieties at different terroir expressions within a single farm.

The Family: Martha, Elias, and Shady Bayter

The Bayter family story begins not with coffee but with avocados. In 1995, the family patriarch and matriarch established El Vergel as an avocado farm. By the mid-2000s it had become one of the most productive avocado operations in the region. Then, in 2006, a disease devastated the crop and global avocado prices collapsed simultaneously. The farm faced a crisis.

It was Martha Montenegro, the Bayter family matriarch, who turned toward coffee as a solution. Between 2009 and 2010, she introduced Catimore and Red and Yellow Caturra varieties to the farm, planting them in available land and learning post-harvest processing through hands-on experimentation. Her sons Elias and Shady grew up watching this transition and became deeply invested in it. As interest in the crop grew, so did ambition.

A key external influence came through Nelson Moya, a coffee processing enthusiast who introduced the family to different processing equipment and opened their eyes to the possibilities of specialty production. The farm earned Rainforest certification from the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros between 2014 and 2015, marking its formal entry into the quality-focused market.

The second pivotal mentor was Miguel Jimenez, a specialist in specialty coffee varieties, who began working with the Bayter family in 2016. Under his guidance, El Vergel planted its first premium specialty varieties — Geisha, Java, Pacamara, Red Bourbon, and Laurina — transforming the farm's genetic portfolio fundamentally. Shady took on the role of sourcing director, managing relationships with international buyers and roasters, while Elias became the farm and processing director, responsible for the technical development of fermentation protocols.

"Their mission: to blend tech magic with coffee passion and sprinkle a little extra joy into the lives of everyone at El Vergel Estate." — Forest Coffee

Farm Timeline: From Avocados to World Recognition

• 1995Bayter family establishes El Vergel as an avocado farm in Fresno, Tolima
• 2006Avocado disease and price collapse — Martha pivots the farm toward coffee
• 2009–10First coffee plantings: Catimore, Red and Yellow Caturra
• 2014–15Rainforest certification from FNC; Nelson Moya introduces processing knowledge
• 2016Miguel Jimenez joins as advisor; specialty varieties planted: Geisha, Java, Pacamara, Bourbon, Laurina
• 2018Natural and anaerobic processes implemented; steel fermentation silos acquired; Koji fermentation developed — first in Colombia
• 2025El Vergel Bourbon Sidra Mosto lot reaches 2025 World Barista Championship finals

The Farm: 400 Hectares, 28+ Varieties

El Vergel Estate covers approximately 400 hectares in total, divided into multiple smaller plots at different altitudes ranging from 1,350 to 1,650 metres above sea level. Each plot is planted with varieties suited to its specific microclimate, creating a mosaic of terroir expressions across a single property. Native shade trees surround the growing areas, planted as part of the ReForest programme run by export partner Forest Coffee — a reforestation initiative that also invests in family housing on the estate and infrastructure upgrades at the local school.

The variety portfolio at El Vergel is extraordinary for its breadth. Where most Colombian farms grow two or three varieties, El Vergel cultivates more than 28 — making it one of the most genetically diverse coffee estates in the country.

The farm's solar panel array reduces its carbon footprint, and the Bayters' commitment to sustainability extends to exhaustive research into bacteria and yeast cultures for fermentation — building a proprietary microbial library that allows them to design cup profiles with scientific precision.

The Innovation: Koji Fermentation — A World First

The Anaerobic Natural Process

The flagship anaerobic natural process — the method behind the lot sold at BrewFusion — is El Vergel's most widely known and reproduced protocol. It uses Red and Yellow Caturra from the microlot adjacent to the washing station, surrounded by Guava trees. This specific plot is one of the most intensely fruity in the estate's entire portfolio.

1. Selective harvest of ripe Red and Yellow Caturra cherries at peak maturity.
2. Cherries placed in sealed stainless steel tanks — pH and temperature closely monitored throughout fermentation.
3. 48–60 hours of anaerobic fermentation at controlled temperature — no oxygen, CO₂ released through airlock. The pH target is 4.0–4.1, at which point fermentation is halted regardless of time.
4. Sun drying on raised beds in a Marquesina (covered drying structure) until cherries reach 30% moisture.
5. Intermittent mechanical drying in circular dryers at temperatures below 45°C — a series of moisture-level stalls to build complexity and prevent over-drying.
6. Final mechanical drying to optimal grain moisture.
7. 45-day stabilisation in GrainPro bags in silos — resting period that homogenises moisture and intensifies flavour complexity.

The intermittent drying with controlled moisture stalls is one of El Vergel's distinctive post-fermentation contributions. Rather than drying in a single continuous pass, the coffee passes through multiple moisture thresholds at different drying speeds — each stage allowing different flavour precursors to develop before the next stage locks them in.

Other Notable El Vergel Lots

Beyond the core anaerobic Caturra, El Vergel produces a wide range of documented lots that have attracted international roasters. The Mosto process lots — anaerobic fermentation using lixiviates (fermentation juices) from Java coffee as inoculant — have appeared in World Barista Championship finals, with the 2025 WBC featuring an El Vergel Bourbon Sidra Mosto lot in the finals. The Koji lots across Gesha, Java, and Pink Bourbon have become collector's items for specialty buyers in Europe and Asia. The Woman Project lot — a Pink Bourbon and Red Bourbon microlot harvested and processed exclusively by women employed on the estate — brings a social dimension to the farm's output. A Decaf Natural processed with Colombian sugarcane ethyl acetate (EA) method has also earned recognition as one of the most flavourful decaffeinated coffees available from Colombia.

Forest Coffee: The Export Partner

El Vergel's green coffee reaches international roasters through Forest Coffee, an export company whose ReForest programme funds native tree planting on the estate and surrounding land. Forest Coffee's mission explicitly links specialty coffee export with environmental restoration — for every bag sold, a portion funds the reforestation of land on and around El Vergel. The company has grown into a network of 250 coffee-growing families across four major projects in Colombia, with a team of 25+ dedicated to supply chain transparency and producer development.

Brew Guide

El Vergel's anaerobic natural is intensely fruit-forward. At lighter roasts it presents like a vibrant sangria; at medium roasts the sweet chocolate character comes forward. Both modes reward a slightly longer extraction time.