Sugar Heist

The region of La Plata in the west side of the province of Huila is the first coffee region I ever visited in Colombia. The melancholy associated with this region is high and for the past few years, every time I have a chance to find a new avant garde producer in the La Plata region, I jump on it. I am excited to be working with Yurani for the first time!

Yurani is the daughter of famous Huila producer, Elias Roa, whom I met in 2010 and we have brought in some of his coffee over the years. He is a pioneer and an innovator and a very respected producer. She grows “variedad Colombia”, pink bourbon and Java and this lot is 100% Colombia.

The variety is “variedad Colombia”, which means Colombian variety and is simply referred to as “Colombia” in the coffee world. The next little bit might bore you, but I’ll take my chances and walk you through the background of this famous variety. Colombia is a hybrid coffee variety developed by Cenicafé in the late 1960s, during a period when coffee leaf rust (dangerous fungus) posed a serious threat to producers across the country. By crossing Caturra with Timor Hybrid, researchers aimed to create a plant that balanced disease resistance with yields and plant structure suitable for Colombia’s farms. The variety was released widely in the early 1980s and quickly became one of the most commonly planted in the country. Its compact growth allows for higher planting densities, helping farmers increase productivity per hectare, and it adapts well across a range of elevations and climates. While it was originally selected for agronomic reasons, improved farming and processing have shown that Colombia can also produce expressive, place-driven coffees when managed carefully.

While I think the variety had an overall positive impact on Colombia’s coffee production, I believe the way the variety was planted and grown did long term damage to Colombia. The plant’s ability to grow in full sun, along with the high planting density transformed agricultural practices in Colombia, resulting in excessive use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and various other agrochemicals. Amongst higher quality producers, around 2012-2014 I started to notice a shift back to more biodynamic agriculture, lower densities, more shade and far less reliance on agrochemicals.

In Yurani’s farm, at 1900m of elevation, her Colombia is planted with low density and the cooler conditions help the trees ripen slower and allow complexity (i.e. nice flavours) to develop in the fruit.

Yurani’s fermentation approach results in a very clean cup. She picks the ripe cherries and immediately ferments in closed tanks for 24 hours. She then de-pulps and ferments again in clean tanks for another 24 hours. Then she fully washes the coffee and gently dries it on raised beds.