Origin : Colombia
Farm : Finca Villa Betulia
Varietal : Pink Bourbon
Altitude : 1600 MASL
Certification : Micro-Lot
Process : Washed
Cup Score : 89
Vanilla, Bergamot & Coriander
This is a wonderful showcase of Pink Bourbon, a rare coffee that ripens to pink, known for its sweet & floral profile - this washed lot allows this unique varietal’s characteristics to shine.
Varietal
Pink bourbon is a rare varietal named after the unique pink colour of the coffee cherry when ripe. Pink Bourbon was previously believed to be a hybrid of red & yellow bourbon varietals, however, recent research is likely to have disproved this theory.
In September, Café Imports published an article stating that after conducting genetic testing with RD2 Vision, Pink Bourbon is likely to have come from an Ethiopian landrace variety - further adding to the curiosity of this varietal.
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.
Producer
Luis Anibal Calderón lives at Finca Villa Betulia with his wife and 4 sons. He first purchased their farm in 2005, and he is now one of the most renowned coffee producers in Colombia. He’s made a name for himself by producing a selection of the worlds highest scoring varietals, and his experiments in fermentation have taken his coffees to another level in recent years.
We love Luis’s coffees - this is the 3rd year of buying his coffee from Finca Betulia.
Farm
Luis Anibal’s farm not only grows coffee, but also cultivates plantains, bananas, cassavas and limes. He began planting specialty coffee varieties in 2012, when he planted 5,000 Geisha trees on around 5% of his farm. Fast forward ten years, it was apparent to Luis that returns from cultivating Geisha were worth the extra effort.
He decided to dedicate his entire farm to more delicate and rare specialty varieties, such as Geisha, Catuai and Pink Bourbon. Since he has built a lab that is used to roast and evaluate the coffee he produces.
Processing
This coffee is harvested at the peak ripeness using a refractometer to measure the degrees of Brix.
Firstly, the cherries are floated and hand-sorted to remove any defects. The cherries are then exposed to 30 hours of underwater fermentation before being pulped.
Once pulled the parchment is gently washed and dried in temperature controlled conditions until ideal moisture content is achieved, this is usually around 9%.
Washed coffee depends entirely on the cherries absorbing natural sugars and nutrients through the growth alone.