COLOMBIA - ARLEY CALDERON

HONEY PINK BOURBON

This is a unique and luscious lot, displaying the very best that Huila, Colombia has to offer.

FARM: Finca Villa Betulia

VARIETAL: Pink Bourbon

PROCESSING: Honey

ALTITUDE: 1,550 meters above sea level

PRODUCER: Luis Anibal & Arley Calderón

REGION: La Primavera, Acevedo, Huila

TASTING NOTES: Honey, Golden Raisin, Melon

Arley Calderon lives at Finca Villa Betulia with his parents and farms a plot of the land. His father, Luis Anibal Calderón, purchased the farm in 2005. Luis and Arley have a quality lab that allows them to roast and taste their coffees with the purpose of approaching to what clients like.

In search of a way to remain profitable, they began planting specialty coffee varieties in 2012, when they planted 5,000 Geisha trees on around 5% of the farm. Ten years later, it was apparent to Arley and Luis Anibal that returns from cultivating Geisha were worth the extra effort. They decided to dedicate the entire farm to farm more delicate and rare specialty varieties, such as Geisha and the Pink Bourbon in this lot. Their dream is to produce 100% exotic varieties like these on their farm and would like drinkers of their coffee to understand the effort and love the family puts into their coffees.

Today, Villa Betulia is planted with a wide range of specialty varieties including Red, Pink and Yellow Geisha, Tabi, Java, Sidra, Striped Bourbon, Maragogype, Pacamara, Marageisha and several dwarf varieties of Geisha.

CULTIVATION

This is a unique Pink Bourbon lot. Pink Bourbon is a hybrid of Yellow and Red Bourbon varieties that was first discovered and grown in Colombia. Taste-wise, Pink Bourbon has all the advantages of its Bourbon parents. The highlights of the typical Pink Bourbon profile are the strong floral notes and pleasant acidity frequently found in East African coffees.

There’s more than color and altitude on its side. Chemical breakdowns have found that Pink Bourbon has higher glucose content than many other varieties. This additional glucose — a type of sugar — means not only a sweeter cup, but also a silkier body and more luscious mouthfeel. Some farmers also report that Pink Bourbon has more disease resistance than its Red and Yellow parents.

In addition to coffee, Luis Anibal and Arley also cultivate plantains, bananas, cassavas and limes.

HARVEST & POST-HARVEST

After selective handpicking, ripe cherry is placed in tanks and fermented anaerobically for 4 days. Then, cherry is pulped using a classic drum pulper and laid to dry on marquesinas, raised beds on the roof of the house. The sweet, sticky layer of mucilage and coffee sundries for 15 to 20 days. Once dry, coffee is stored for 20 to 30 days in a temperature-controlled warehouse in Armenia region before being transported to the warehouse in Valle del Café.

COFFEE IN COLOMBIA

Colombia has been producing and exporting coffee renowned for their 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 crop nearly all year round. The increasing focus on the specialty industry is changing the way traders and farmers do business.

Like this Pink Bourbon lot, it is becoming more common for farmers to isolate the highest quality beans in their lots to market separately.