Origin: Colombia

Farm: El Rubi 

Varietal: Pink Bourbon 

Altitude: 1800 M.A.S.L

Certification: Micro-Lot 

Processing: Washed 

Cup Score: 87+

Sweet Peach, Floral Orange, Buttery Caramel 

We’re incredibly proud to bring you a Pink Bourbon, a rare varietal named after the unique pink colour of the coffee cherry when ripe - produced almost exclusively in Huila, a small region in West Colombia. 

100% Pink Bourbons are very difficult to produce consistently, though they’ve shown a good resistance to coffee leaf rust, the recessive genes which lead to the expression of the pink colour are easily hampered by the presence of the more dominant Red & Yellow Bourbon genes. 

Thus only in carefully separated, isolated Micro-Lots can the unique colour and character of this varietal be produced.

Pink Bourbon was originally discovered by accident when studying why the pink cherries tasted much sweeter and more floral than other ripened cherries. It was later discovered to be a genetic mutation - a hybrid of the well documented Red & Yellow Bourbon varietals.  

Pink Bourbon cherries contain a large amount of glucose sugar, this particular lot achieved an incredible 28 degrees of BRIX! This means there are 28 grams of sugar in a 100 gram sample of ripened cherries. This is understood to be the catalyst for why the beautifully delicate, sweet and complex profile is often compared to the Geisha varietal. 

The El Rubi farm is located in the picturesque Acevedo region of Huila, famous for the top quality Avocado plantations.

The farm was named after the precious jewel by its previous owner who received the farm as a wedding gift. The now owners, Heiner and Johanna, have been farming here for 25 years after taking ownership in the mid 90’s.

For many years, the El Rubi farm cultivated only Caturra and Castillo varietals, though they’ve recently moved to producing more exotic and rare varietals with extended experimental fermentation techniques which achieve increasingly high cupping scores.

They now boast growing Papayo (named after the papaya plant), SL-28 and even have 7,500 Pink Bourbon trees, planted just 3.5 years ago. 

This particular washed coffee really showcases the qualities of this varietal, the effect of the weather, the understanding of picking and the controlled dry fermentation.

Washed coffee depends entirely on the cherries absorbing natural sugars and nutrients through the growth alone. 

Part science, part farmers craft. 

This is a beautifully sweet, floral and clean coffee which, as the majority is produced in only one region of Colombia, we see sporadically across the harvest calendar.

Highly highly recommended.

SCA: 87+