La Colorada Pink Bourbon

The Coffee

One half of a twinned release, we have two varietal selections from Eduardo Anacona’s farm, Finca La Colorada, to share with you. Here we are showcasing his Pink Bourbon cultivar, which is expressing a fruit driven cup with dark, tangy berries and a glossy mouthfeel.

Spanning 9 hectares up to altitudes of 2,150 metres, Finca La Colorada is planted out with Castillo, Papayo, Pink Bourbon and Gesha across 6.7 hectares. We were lucky to taste through several variety specific outturns from the farm late last year, and we have chosen to roast both his Pink Bourbon and Gesha production.

The Farm

The farm is located in the vereda of Villa María, in Íquira, Huila region, Colombia. Their main crop runs May through August, with Mitaca harvesting October to November. Coffee cherries are hand picked to ensure a uniform, ripe selection, and after being fed through a depulping machine they opt for a 40 hour dry fermentation in cement tanks. This allows the native microbiome to break down the coffee’s sugary mucilage layer prior to washing. This long fermentation process has been handled well, as we are not experiencing any overly fermented flavours imparted into the coffee, but the fruity characteristics and coffee’s aromatics are definitely highlighted and brought out in a pleasing way.

The Producer

Eduardo has been working in coffee since he was around 12 years old, when he would help his father. The last decade or so at Finca La Colorada has brought new infrastructures and protocols to ensure more consistency and improve quality so that now he receives premium prices for his coffees, and has garnered a reputation as a fantastic coffee producer.

The Exporter

Typically, Caravela operate an 80/20 model, working with a vast majority of smallholders and a minority of farmers with large coffee estates. More than half of the producers they worked with were visited by their PECA team, and in Colombia alone they are working with 1,746 producers across 52 communities.

The PECA Programme

As regards their PECA program, they have said the below:

“Coffee growers are the heart of our business model, without them we could not maintain and sustain this value chain. They are responsible for producing the best coffees that delight us every day. The Coffee Growers Education Program (PECA) has developed a symbiotic relationship between coffee growers and Caravela since we’re always learning from each other. For many years, we have accumulated experiences throughout experimentation and work that provides tools to empower and educates coffee growers, resulting in consistent high-quality coffees.”