This year’s harvest was among the best pink bourbons I tasted. Last year’s harvest though, was the best Colombian coffee I tasted, from us and all of the roasters I had the chance to taste. This year, the coffee has many of the same characteristics but the intensity of the flavours is a bit lower. I would still put it in the top notch Colombian coffees, but a bit shy of the incredible level it achieved last year. This is the interesting part of agriculture - although many of the processes at the farm have improved year over year, the weather pre-harvest, the specific conditions of the soil or the weather during the harvest may have contributed differently to the cup this year, as compared to the previous year. This is the main reason that working with producers over a long term requires patience and understanding that not every year will be a home run. To learn more about pink bourbon and the processing of this coffee, read on!

Marino’s farm is located in one of my favourite regions of Colombia: San Agustín. San Agustín is in the south end in the province of Huila and it’s a very dramatic region, with lots of cliffs, waterfalls, and deep valleys. More importantly, the coffee from San Agustín has a distinct fruity character that I have always gravitated towards. This specific lot from Marino is 100% Pink Bourbon variety and it certainly delivers on the fruit.

Pink Bourbon is quickly becoming the gold standard of Colombia. When I first started buying in Colombia, almost 13 years ago, the only two coffee varieties I would come across were Colombia (F6) and Caturra. Since then, another important hybrid “Castillo” was developed by Cenicafé (Colombia National Coffee Investigation Centre). Castillo has been planted throughout Colombia more than any other variety and the results, at least from a quality perspective, have been mixed. In my own personal experiences, Castillo tends to bring out more of the herbaceous notes of Catimor, which is not exactly what I am looking for in a tasty coffee. The good news is that, while most producers planted Castillo, many also planted other varieties in search for better cup quality. One of these varieties is Pink Bourbon.

Pink Bourbon was long believed to be a hybrid between Yellow and Red Bourbon. But recent genetic testing debunked this theory and have proven that Pink Bourbon actually comes from an Ethiopian landrace variety. My experiences cupping Pink Bourbon also support these genetic findings - I find the profile to be more exotic - it stands out from the more traditional Colombian varieties and resembles traits of Geishas, Ethiopian, and Kenyan coffees.

The coffee first underwent anaerobic fermentation in cherry for 24 hours. The coffee was then de-pulped and aerobically fermented in pulp for 48 hours. The coffee was then washed and dried slowly on beds. The result: tasty!

- Sebastian