Wilder Lazo is actually a veterinarian specialized in livestock farming. As the coffee price continued to decline in 2016 and his father fell seriously ill, he decided to bring the family farm up to speed together with his brother.
Initially, their coffees scored between 80-83 points on the cupping scale, despite elaborate processes and preparations. Wilder started examining soil samples and using targeted nutrients and fertilizers to neutralize the pH value, thereby increasing the availability of nutrients for the coffee trees. He refers to this as precision agriculture.
The anaerobic fermentation emphasizes the “true coffee character”, as most microorganisms work much slower compared to aerobic "fermentation" (actually more correctly referred to as oxidation, as fermentation, by definition, is an anaerobic process). In coffee processing, however, everything that happens "between picking and drying" is mistakenly referred to as fermentation.
Wilder Lazo ensures that the soil is very well supplied with nutrients. Then, the fully ripe, extremely large fruits are harvested and washed in water tanks to separate them from impurities and floating beans.
After harvest he pulps the cherries immediately, puts them into blue fermentation tanks, puts the lid on and lets it ferment for 60 hours. After that it’s fully washed and dried in marquesinas for 14 days.
