History & Origins
Diego Samuel Bermúdez is a Colombian producer from Piendamó, Cauca, who has become one of the most influential figures in the development of controlled fermentation as a specialty coffee processing methodology. He founded Finca El Paraíso on family land in Cauca, where he has spent more than a decade applying a scientific approach to post-harvest processing that has transformed how producers and roasters think about fermentation as a tool for flavor development.
Bermúdez’s background is not that of a conventional farmer. He has pursued formal study in microbiology and food science, and he applies that training directly to his processing protocols—treating fermentation as a controlled biological process with measurable variables rather than an intuitive or traditional practice. This methodology has produced coffees with flavor profiles that depart significantly from what Cauca washed lots were historically associated with, and has attracted international attention from roasters, baristas, and competition selectors.
The farm became a reference point in World Barista Championship competition when Diego’s lots were used by winning baristas. Sebastian Ramirez Gomez won the 2021 World Barista Championship using a double anaerobic Fermented Washed Pink Bourbon from Finca El Paraíso. The subsequent years have seen additional competitors source from the farm, cementing its status as a source of reliably exceptional competition-grade lots.
Terroir & Growing Conditions
Finca El Paraíso is located in the municipality of Piendamó in Cauca department, at elevations between 1,800 and 2,200 meters above sea level. The farm sits within the Macizo Colombiano highland zone, where the convergence of three Andean ranges creates a complex mosaic of microclimates, soil types, and moisture regimes.
Soils at Finca El Paraíso are volcanic in origin, well-drained, and rich in organic matter. The altitude and latitude combination produces significant temperature variation between day and night—often exceeding 15°C—which is a key driver of slow sugar development in the cherry and contributes to the dense, complex green coffee that Bermúdez’s processing then works with.
The farm grows multiple cultivars at different elevational blocks, with Pink Bourbon and Geisha occupying the highest positions. Castillo and Colombia varieties, which are disease-resistant hybrids developed by Cenicafé (Colombia’s national coffee research center), occupy mid-elevation blocks and provide volume alongside the smaller, more intensively managed lots of rarer cultivars.
Processing & Production
Diego Samuel Bermúdez’s processing approach is defined by two techniques he has developed and refined: thermal shock and precisely controlled anaerobic fermentation. These methods, applied individually or in combination, are the primary reason Finca El Paraíso’s lots perform at the level they do in competition and auction contexts.
Thermal shock processing involves exposing coffee cherries or parchment to rapid temperature changes—typically moving from warm fermentation environments to cold water immersion—at calculated intervals during the fermentation cycle. Bermúdez has documented that this interrupts fermentation at specific microbial stages, locking in certain aromatic compounds and creating flavor stability that conventional slow fermentation does not produce.
Anaerobic fermentation at Finca El Paraíso is carried out in sealed stainless steel tanks under CO2, with precise monitoring of pH, temperature, and fermentation duration. Bermúdez tracks these variables with laboratory instruments and adjusts parameters per lot and cultivar. The double anaerobic honey process used for the 2021 WBC lot involves two consecutive sealed fermentation cycles before the coffee is moved to raised drying beds as honey-processed parchment.
Drying is conducted on raised African beds with climate monitoring, and the farm has installed covered drying infrastructure to manage humidity during the variable-weather Cauca harvest season. Post-drying rest periods are incorporated into the production schedule, with parchment rested in controlled conditions before dry milling and export.
Cup Profile & Tasting Notes
Finca El Paraíso lots are marked by intensity and precision. The double anaerobic honey Pink Bourbon that brought international attention to the farm presents with ripe tropical fruit—passion fruit, guava, and mango—layered over notes of hibiscus, strawberry, and cinnamon. The fermentation profile is present but controlled: there is complexity without instability, and the fruit notes read as enhancement of the cherry’s natural character rather than a mask for underlying flaws.
Washed lots from the farm—particularly those processed with thermal shock protocols—show a different face: cleaner, brighter, with pronounced stone fruit and citrus acidity that reflects Cauca’s terroir more directly. These lots tend to score in the 88–91 SCA range. Anaerobic naturals push higher, regularly reaching 92–94 in competition cupping.
Geisha lots from Finca El Paraíso exhibit the variety’s characteristic florality amplified by Bermúdez’s fermentation control, with jasmine and white flower notes sitting alongside a more developed tropical fruit backbone than is typical of washed Geisha elsewhere. The farm’s ongoing experimentation means its processing catalog continues to expand, with new protocol combinations appearing each harvest season.