Colombia
El Diviso
Elias Quilcue Apio

El Diviso occupies 6 hectares, half of which are planted with coffee trees of Typica, Colombia and Caturra varietals. The farm, which grows local produce too, is Certified Organic. This lot gives us notes of passionfruit, glacé cherry, and pineapple.

Washed process Caturra

Flavour: passionfruit, glacé cherry, pineapple

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

Proud of his Paez indigenous roots, Elias demonstrates 30+ years of experience with this lot of washed Caturra, feeling silky and balanced in the cup.

Elias Quilcue Apio is a coffee producer with a proud indigenous heritage: the Paez people. His grandparents, who lived in the land he cultivates today, helped treat people in the community with natural remedies. They call this place El Diviso, nestled high in the southern mountains of Tolima, Colombia.

Elias got involved in coffee production in 2002. In 2019, motivated by a local association and after attending some workshops, he introduced numerous changes to the production process: harvest, infrastructure, handling… This immediately pushed up the quality of the coffee, which started selling in the specialty markets and brought a better income into the household.

El Diviso occupies 6 hectares, half of which are planted with coffee trees of Typica, Colombia and Caturra varietals. The rest is dedicated to growing other produce for local consumption. All of this is done with the highest consideration for the environment—Elias’ coffee and produce are certified Organic.

The fermentation style is quite distinctive, yet it still is considered traditionally washed. Ripe cherries ferment inside their pulp for about 20-24 hours, then floated to discard less dense fruits and other debris. After that, the cherries are pulped without water and then left to ferment in black bags for about 100-120 hours. Finally, these are washed with water twice, then dried in parabolic-covered patios for 20-25 hours, depending on the climate.

This lot features a beautiful and balanced washed Caturra.

Elias is content, proud of his history and contribution to the land and community. When he’s not tending the land and business, he weaves and crafts artisanal objects alongside his partner Esneida.

All the images and information about this coffee and its producers have been kindly shared by the importer, Caravela, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise).

Resting your beans inside the sealed bag helps develop peak flavours and acidity.

Learn how long and why you should wait on our brewing window recommendations guide.

Try our step-by-step recipes and videos.

Our recipes are easy to follow and designed to bring the best out of our coffee. Find your favourite method on our brew guides collection or test a new one—and if you have any questions, ask us anytime at [email protected].

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: Elias Quilcue Apio
Country: Colombia
Region: Tolima
Altitude: 1750m above sea level
Variety: Caturra
Process: washed
Importer: Caravela
Body: Medium
Acidity: Medium
Tasting notes: Passionfruit, glacé cherry, pineapple
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Variety

Caturra variety

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon that was originally discovered in Brazil in 1937, considered to be the first naturally occurring mutation ever discovered.

The location

Coffee from Colombia

Colombia is one of the largest coffee producers in the world and benefits greatly from having one of the most unique and complex set of micro-climates of all coffee producing nations.

The Tolima region of Colombia

The word ‘Tolima’ comes from the local indigenous language and means a “river of snow or cloud”.

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.