Producer: Luis Marcelino. Farm: Veci Project. Location: Pitalito, Hulia. Variety: Bourbon Aji. Process: Hydro Honey. Altitude: 1,600 masl. Luis Marcelino, initially a corporate achiever in Paris, found his passion in coffee after traveling between France and Colombia from 2017-2019 to learn about cultivation, processing, and trade. He established Aroma Nativo in 2019, with a processing hub in Huila, Colombia, and a trading company in Paris, France, focusing on natural and experimental processing. Aroma Nativo has gained recognition in global coffee competitions. This lot's cherries are from farmers in the Veci Project, which Luis implemented in 2022. The Veci Project aims to improve coffee quality and farmer livelihoods by providing advance payments and premiums for high-quality cherries, and by educating farmers on contemporary specialty coffee methods, including cultivation and post-harvest processing. The project also encourages the younger generation to stay in coffee farming by highlighting opportunities for growth. The Aji variety, named for its resemblance to small chili peppers, is an Ethiopian landrace. This lot was grown by Veci Project smallholder farmers in southern Huila and processed at Aroma Nativo’s facility. The Hydro Natural process involves anaerobic fermentation of ripe cherries, pulping, partial drying, rehydration in fermentation tanks with selected yeast and bacteria to develop specific flavor profiles, followed by 12 days of sun drying on raised beds.