COLOMBIA - LA CARMELITA
LACTIC PINK BOURBON
FARM: Finca La Carmelita
VARIETAL: Pink Bourbon
PROCESSING: Lactic Anaerobic Natural
ALTITUDE: 1,600 meters above sea level
PRODUCER: Tarciso Gonzalez
REGION: La Union, Huila
TASTING NOTES: Ripe Orange, Maple Syrup, Hints of Blackberry
ABOUT THIS COFFEE
Tarciso Gonzalez and his family were among the first producers to begin cultivating coffee in La Union in Huila. Now in his 70s, Tarcisio remembers arriving in the region and planting coffee with his family. He bought his own farm, Finca Carmelita, when he was a young man and continues to produce coffee to this day. “Coffee has given me
everything I have,” Tarcisio has. He attributes his success to hard work. His dream was to see his children happy and graduated from university with professions of their own. Right now, 3 of his 4 children have graduated and are working as professionals. The youngest has not graduated yet, but Tarcisio hopes that they too will succeed.
He hasn’t always cultivated specialty coffee, though. When Pink Bourbon started gaining popularity in Colombia, his sons, Yonatan and Julian, advised him to start planting a few trees of that variety. “Today, they are the ones bearing good fruit.” That was around 2011, when the “coffee crisis” of low prices and a Coffee Leaf Rust epidemic made it clear to Tarcisio that there was a need to create new markets.
HARVEST & POST-HARVEST
Ripe, red cherry is selectively handpicked and Tarciso processes it on his farm. Cherry is placed in a hopper and sealed to create an anaerobic environment. After one day of fermenting, an agent that stops fermentation is added, and fermentation stops. This increases the amount of lactic acid in the cherry and creates a smooth mouthfeel in the final coffee.
Tarciso measures temperature, pH, and Brix content throughout the fermentation process to reach the ideal levels and create a superb specialty coffee. Following fermentation, the cherry is laid on raised beds to dry. The Cherry is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 20 to 25 days for the cherry to dry.
COFFEE IN COLOMBIA
Colombia has been producing and exporting coffee renowned for its full body, bright acidity, and rich aftertaste, since the early 19th century.
Colombia boasts a wide range of climates and geographic conditions that, in turn, produce their own unique flavors in coffee. This also means that harvest times can vary quite a bit. In fact, between all its different regions, Colombia produces fresh crops nearly all year round.
The increasing focus on the specialty industry is changing the way traders and farmers do business. It is becoming more common for farmers to isolate the highest quality beans in their lots to market separately. These higher-quality lots are often sold under specific brands or stories.
Besides its wide variety of cup profiles, Colombia has quickly expanded its certification options over the past 10 years. The most common certifications available are Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ and Organic.
