Monteblanco - specialty coffee

KOLUMBIA, Huila, Acevedo

Cupping score 89.75

Processing: Extednted Fermentation Fully Washed

Varietal: Pink Bourbon

Altitude: 1730

Farmer: Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia

Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia is a third-generation coffee farmer at Finca Monteblanco. His grandfather began cultivating coffee here several decades ago and today, Rodrigo works to preserve the natural diversity and productivity of the farm.  

In 2017, coffees displaying the unique varieties and processes used at Finca Monteblanco won first place in the Yara Championship, a quality competition. He placed second the following year with another lot from Finca Monteblanco. In 2019, Rodrigo participated in the Roasters United competition and two of his coffees placed first and third.

Finca Monteblanco is located near Cueva de los Guacharos, one of the 59 protected parks in Colombia. The Suaza river also runs nearby and provides fresh water for cultivation and processing.  

Rodrigo cultivates Caturra, Geisha, Pink Bourbon and Pacamara varieties on Finca Monteblanco. The high altitude and superb microclimate of Acevedo, Huila creates the ideal conditions for cultivating specialty coffees.  

Rodrigo’s passion for research made this lot possible. It began in 2016 when he drew inspiration from wine making, where he saw that grapes fermented in cooler environments had more desirable floral and fruity notes. He began his experiments by freezing pulped coffee. The freezer halted fermentation entirely and killed the embryo, so the coffee aged very quickly. However, Rodrigo didn’t give up because he noticed that the profile had an inkling of the desirable fruity and floral notes and he knew he was on the right track. Rodrigo continued experimenting with different temperatures and also expanded the scope of his project to include Brix degrees (sugar content) and different coffee varieties until he found exactly the right combination.  

Cherry is selectively handpicked and processed on the farm. Workers are trained to pick cherry at 26 to 30 Brix degrees. Once picked, cherry is floated and visually sorted to remove any underripes or damaged cherry. Only the best cherry is pulped and processed using this method. Coffee is put in GrainPro bags. The sealed bags are placed in an industrial fridge to ferment at 10 to 14 degrees Celsius for 76 hours. The cold temperatures slow down microbial activity and allow fermentation to happen more slowly. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid in direct sunlight on parabolic beds. Parchment is dried in direct sunlight for 1 to 2 days before being moved to raised beds in the shade. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes about 23 to 25 days for parchment to dry.

Pink Bourbon was previously thought to be a hybrid of Yellow and Red Bourbon varieties. The variety was first identified growing in and around Huila, Colombia. Recent research has found that Pink Bourbon is in fact not Bourbon at all. Pink Bourbon mostly likely comes from an Ethiopian landrace variety.

Pink Bourbon has a stunningly high cup potential that wows coffee professionals and consumers alike. Its impressively high cup quality makes even more sense now that we understand Pink Bourbon is not simply a hybrid of two Bourbon varieties but traces to Ethiopian landraces. Its siblings include the highly-prized Geisha, which has consistently produced incredibly high cup scores. Pink Bourbon will continue to be a highly distinguished and valued variety.

Some farmers also report that Pink Bourbon has more disease resistance than the Bourbons it grows alongside. Based on these new discoveries, this may be due to the genetic variety it has coming from Ethiopian landraces.