Moka Vergel: Colombian Green Coffee

HISTORY:

Our agricultural journey began in 1995, and in 2010 we started cultivating coffee at El Vergel Estate in Tolima. By 2015, we had successfully harvested our first varietals.

In 2017, after facing challenges in the local market, Martha, Shady, and Elias set out to find innovative ways to add value to their coffees and close the gap between producers and roasters.

Forest Coffee was founded in 2019 with a vision to unlock the true potential of Colombian coffee through innovation in processing, education, and sustainability. Our mission is to connect coffee growers directly with international markets, ensuring fair pricing and full transparency.

Today, in 2025, Forest Coffee has grown into a thriving network of 250 coffee-growing families, four major projects across Colombia, a dedicated team of 25+, and a global community of partners and roasters.

Our story is a testament to how innovation and community can transform the coffee industry for the better.

PROCESS DESCRIPTION:

Moka Vergel begins its journey at El Vergel Estate in Fresno, Tolima, where the rare Moka coffee variety thrives in rich soils and high-altitude microclimates. Known for its tiny cherries and concentrated flavor potential, this variety is carefully handpicked at peak maturation to ensure only the ripest fruit enters the process to achieving consistency, sweetness, and clarity in the cup.

Once harvested, the cherries undergo a 6-hour anaerobic pre-fermentation in plastic tanks. This short yet impactful stage activates natural microbial activity, gently enhancing the Moka’s intrinsic floral and cacao-forward attributes while preserving its delicate structure. After pre-fermentation, the cherries are transferred into separate hermetic plastic tanks for a 96-hour anaerobic natural fermentation. Kept in-cherry throughout the entire process, this extended fermentation deepens the coffee’s complexity, developing richer notes of dark chocolate, cacao nibs, lemongrass, and citric acidity.

Following fermentation, Moka Vergel is dried using a two-stage natural drying technique. The process begins with mechanical drying in silos to carefully reduce moisture, followed by a finishing stage in Nuna beds, where the coffee dries for a total of 8–12 days depending on climate conditions. This combination of mechanical and sun-assisted drying helps stabilize the structure of the beans, enhance sweetness, and guarantee uniformity—critical factors for specialty coffee roasters and importers worldwide.

To conclude, the coffee is stabilized for 30 days in GrainPro bags, allowing the flavors to settle, harmonize, and reach ideal cup expression before export.