In our farm-direct Colombia program, when a coffee is between 86 and 88, it goes into our 3-Star blend, and above 88 it becomes a farm-specific lot. That's what we have here, a lot that distinguished itself in the weekly cuppings of samples sent to me from Colombia, and one we felt must be offered separate from all others. Earlier we had a lot of Carlos Imbachi that won First Place at the SCAA Coffee of the Year at the 2009 Conference in April. To give you some perspective, the famous Panama Esmeralda Especial Gesha came in 2nd to our 290 Lb Carlos Imbachi lot! It speaks volumes about the quality potential of Colombia coffees, once you stop blending the great ones with the lesser ones. And for this, the farm and the exporter, Virmax, deserve the credit. All I did was cup it and recognize the obvious quality. After we had such a great experience with his small lot, we focused on cupping his later harvest lots, and put together this selection of weekly-picking separations to form our new (and larger than 290 Lbs) Carlos Imbachi Microlot. Sr. Imbachi's farm is in the San Augustin area of Huila at 1753 meters altitude. The dry fragrance of this coffee is cake-like, with a heady sweetness, confectionary, with honey, plum, raisin and floral nectar notes. Add hot water and there is a more succinct sweetness that comes forward, jammy and dense, with guayaba tropical fruit essences and a cane sugar sweetness. In the cup it is juicy and bright, the lighter roasts having a slight hazelnut roast tone overlayed with strawberry, peach, tamarind, and plum notes in the finish. It is so sweet, so well-graced with clean fruit flavors and floral suggestions. Looking at the roasts I did, the light City roast looked impossibly under-done, but cupped wonderfully, my top pick for sure. So listen to first crack and stop the roast when it has concluded; it will look variegated in color and creased but cup beautifully. I found it passes quickly from 1st crack to 2nd crack, so pay attention. Really, the coffee was exceptional through the entire roast spectrum from C to FC+, but the light roasts are where all it's special character was in full bloom.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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This is a selection from out farm-direct Colombia program. When we score above 88 points, it is desginated as a Micro-lot, processed separately, and a premium price is returned to the farmer. Whe I cup all these tiny lots each week, I don't know the details behind them, but "Lot 74" was memorable and we ranked it above everything in the weekly samples shipped from Bogota. As it is revealed, Lot No. 74 was grown by Mr. Manuel Santacruz. Mr. Santacruz is 47 years old, married to Maria Maura Betancur, with 5 children and a small coffee farm in Bruselas, Huila he calls El Galpon. The area is 7 Hectares and is cultivated with caturra and variedad colombia. The dry fragrance has some refined white grape juice hints and cane sugar, while a slightly darker roast (FC) has cocoa powder tones. The wet aroma reveals some balanced spices and a cake-like sweetness ... very nice. The cup is bright and has a nice, bracing acidity in the lighter roasts, which gives a certain effervescence. It has restrained fruit flavors; green grape, panela (sugarcane cake), mild lemony citrus, a touch of starfruit. There are floral suggestions too and a honeyed sweetness. I definitely found myself drawn to the lightest roast, which, like the other vacuum pack Huila Colombias that arrived at the same time, looks impossibly light-roasted. It is variegated in color, with dark creases in the bean, as if it is not fully expanded by the roast process. It isn't! And yet stopping the roast at the City level, just as it completes first crack, has yielded great results with this lot, and the others too. When we did some later brews of this coffee, the sugarcane sweetness and a green tea finish were evident. It's a subtle yet very complex and nuanced coffee, that yields some new dimension each time it is roasted and brewed.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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This is another selection from out farm-direct Colombia program, and a small farm that has the distinct honor of having been #1 in the Colombia Cup of Excellence a couple years ago! Not that I knew that when I cupped it in our weekly Microlot samples from Colombia. It's all done with numerical codes only, and a coffee must announce it's qualities only through the aromas and flavors in the cup. That's what we have here, a lot that distinguished itself in the weekly cuppings, and one we felt must be offered separate from all others. The farm is called La Esperanza, the Hope, and it is at 1535 meters in the Suaza area of Huila Colombia. Isais worked his way up from being a traveling coffee picker, following the harvest through Huila, Tolima and Caldas departments. He had the chance to buy the small farm from his uncle, and was able to pay a little back on it with each harvest. "In 1987 I planted the first 3000 coffee seeds. At that time, I met Nydia, who is my wife. We got married in 1988 and we have now 5 children (4 boys and 1 girl). Thanks to the coffee all my children have had the change to get primary and middle school education". It's a nice story, to match a really great cup... The dry fragrance has apple and plum fruit notes, a good clean sweetness and a slightly savory quality as well. This translates to the wet aromatics, as well as a wine-like stone fruit aspect. The cup flavors have layers of fruits, including boysenberry, black currant, and Italian plum in the finish. It's a lush and juicy cup, with more moderate acidy snap compared to other Huila coffees. The theme here is dark fruits, and it has a syrupy body that suits the overall cup character. In the aftertaste a dark brown sugar sweetness comes out, and some slight pepper pungency. Like the other vacuum packed Huilas that arrived with this lot, I have found the light roasts to be the best, City to City+. This means stopping the roast right as first crack ends, or a tad more, even though the roasted coffee appearance is not that pretty at this level, the surface color and texture not yet evened out. Rest it and taste it, I think you will agree that light roasts rule the day here.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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This is from a lot of from the area of Huila, in south Colombia. It has no special pedigree, but ended up being a really, really nice cup quality when we evaluated the arrival sample. This was sent for Water Process decaffeination in Mexico and is one of the brighter, more floral arrivals we have had from this source. In recent years we have been buying some remarkable coffees from this region of South Huila department, and in fact our most recent Cup of Excellence coffee is from the same area. So what we have here is a verified solid coffee in non -decaf form, that retained great sweetness and balance through the decaf process. (While there is often the strong possibility of a coffee going "flat" at the decaf plant, losing all its origin character, it always helps to start with a great coffee. Traditionally, brokers bought decaf from the plant, coffee supplied from lower grade "stocklots" by the decaffeinator themselves. The results were never very impressive. Now we are able to designate high quality lots, and get these kinds of results). This coffee has great brightness in the lighter roasts, as much as any decaf Colombia lots we have ever had. The aromatics are fairly mild, floral, and have marked sweetness, nutty roast tones, and hints of citrus. There are more toasty nut notes in the wet aromatics, with vanilla and sweet raisin. This cup is quite lively and bright at C+ roast levels, reminding me of the really nice Ethiopia decafs. In fact, some might want to take this to FC roast to tone down the cup. I found my favorite roast was FC, before 2nd crack, where the cup had the most balance. The aftertaste has a well defined, cleanly-disappearing sweetness. The body is fairly light at C+, which is not at all a negative because it suits the brisk nature of this cup. It rounds out considerably at FC roast.



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This coffee is a blend of small micro-lots via an innovative program called Las Mingas. These are coffees that scored 86 or 87 points, solid coffees, but a tad below out 88 point cut-off on offering it as a distinct Colombia micro-lot. Because we cup each tiny batch separate and pay accordingly, these are part of our direct trade program, Farm Gate Coffee, for farm-distinct coffees. When a coffee is between 86 and 88, it goes into our 3-Star blend, and above 88 it becomes a farm-specific lot. This means that the farmer has been paid a premium price, and that is the case with our Platos Fuertes de Huila. Sometimes these tiny lots are less than 1 bag each, say 50 kilos or so of parchment coffee, so it's just impossible to isolate it and sell it separately. We build this Huila coffee after cupping a staggering amount of samples sent direct from Colombia via FedEx every week, tiny "NanoLots," with an overall cup profile in mind. The coffee has been shipped in vacuum-packed mylar bags, in cardboard box, to maximize the original green coffee quality (which often suffers greatly in the hot, humid ports of Colombia. The Platos Fuertes lot has a very sweet fragrance of caramel, and I get a scent of carrot cake as well! In the wet aroma there is the scent of fruit candies, cane sugar and peaches. I did a very, very light City roast where the coffee is still deeply creased and patchy on the surface, and yet the aroma from this was the best, and I liked the light roast cup too. It's a little bready (needs a bit more rest) but has a clean peach and citrus fruit blend flavor. It's a fantastically clean, transparent cup, with refined sweetness. At C+ roast the grain sweetness is gone, and what lingers is more like refined sugar, an elegant "sipping coffee." Light apricot fruit flavors persist along with a mild orange accent, and the aftertaste is brief yet effervescently light. The mouthfeel is fairly transparent; it suits the cup flavors well. It's a coffee that works fine at FC or FC+ roast, nearing 2nd crack, but at those levels it has a more common Colombia flavor. To really coax the special cup out of this coffee, try to stay light on the roast, and by appearance it might look impossibly light, undrinkabley light. But if 1st crack has concluded, or will finish up in the cooling for you Behmor people, you will be set.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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Suarez is a municipality in the northern part of the Cauca department, a place well known for gold mining (hence the mill mark Oro de Suarez). For me, Cauca coffees have typically had a deeper, darker flavor profile than other origins in Colombia ... and there is a lot of variety from the various departments (states) of Colombia. Raisin sweetness, tropical fruits, slightly lower acidity, slightly more body, ripe fruit/winey accents; these are things I have found from Cauca coffees in the past. Some of those flavors hint at processing traditions, perhaps allowing coffee fruit to ripen to a crimson red on the tree, perhaps longer fermentation times in the wet-processing. So they may indicate a coffee tradition in local culture, and not something that comes from the climate, the cultivar and the soil. But I enjoy Cauca coffees and find them distinct from, say, the Huila and Narino lots from the South. This coffee from Suarez certainly falls in line with my expected hopes for the Cauca cup. The dry fragrance has a lush, tropical fruit sweetness with a hint of Goiabada, the Latin American sweet Guava paste. There's also a soft milk chocolate which comes through in the wet aroma, along with tamarind fruit. The cup has dark brown sugar sweetness, with fruited flavors of concord grape fresh black fig and raisin. It has a lower acidity level than coffee from Huila and other current offerings, and perhaps more body. The finish has a slight black pepper accent, and there is a dry bittering hint in the aftertaste that reminds me of mild tannins of grape skins, and a suggestion of tobacco. But in all, the dark fruited sweetness is the primary cup flavor here. It's a classic Cauca coffee in that respect.



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This is a lot from the Tolima district, Huila department. In recent years we have been buying some remarkable coffees from this region of South Huila department, and in fact our most recent Cup of Excellence coffee is from the same area. So what we have here is a great coffee, sent direct to the German decaffeination plant KVW for their Methyl Chloride (MC) process and then returned to us. While there is often the strong possibility of a coffee going "flat" at the decaf plant, losing all its origin character, it always helps to start with a great coffee. Traditionally, brokers bought decaf from the plant, coffee supplied from lower grade "stocklots" by the decaffeinator themselves. The results were never very impressive. Now we are able to designate high quality lots, and get these kinds of results. In fact, this is one of the brightest, most lively decaf Colombia lots we have ever had, and I dare say it keeps pace with fine quality non-decaf Colombia offerings. The fragrance of the dry grounds is noticeably sweet and bright. The wet aroma has a bit of citrus and floral component. The cup has sweet orange, and is very lively, especially when you consider it is a decaf. Some of my tests roasts were too light for this type of brightness; City roast tasted too sour. At City + and darker the fruited notes were in much better balance. The body is light, and this suits the crisp character of this coffee. It rates well among other quality non-decaf Huila lots, and that's impressive in itself!



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San Augustin is know for several things: the fantastic pre-Colombian "Piedras", large carved-rock idols at archeological sites dating to 3000 B.C. And then there are bandits and guerillas still active in the surrounding areas (although the town of San Augustin itself is quite placid). And finally there is the remarkable coffee grown in the area. This lot is from combined smallholder farms and has a distinction from our other Huila coffees of late: it is incredibly balanced. We have found Huila coffees with more striking acidity (and I love a good, bright, citric accent in the cup). And usually I look to coffees from the Cauca valley for more tenor-to-bass toned cups. But here is a Huila with fat, rounded body, and moderate acidity. The dry fragrance has a strong milk chocolate scent with almond undertones. There are suggestions of almond in the wet aromatics, as well as the cup flavors. Remarkably balanced between these nutty and chocolate tones, there is a long aftertaste with fruited (pear, papaya) secondary flavors. It's the rounded body that makes the cup so alluring and balanced. I would rank this as a top "crowd-pleaser" coffee, which is not to say it lacks character, or is middle-of-the-road in any way. There are fruited tones here, from aroma to aftertaste, that are outstanding, sweet, clean, complex. Inisitally it smells so sweet and candy-like I thought of grape Pez! In the cup the flavor is more like a creamy papaya mousse, if there even is such a thing. It's a great cup. It has the body that people respond to, and avoids the acidity that can be controversial for some folks- it's drinkin' coffee!



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I remember this coffee from the quirky "competition" they hold at the Specialty Coffee (SCAA) conference each year. There are individual cuppings for many origins, but whole vast coffee-producing areas don't enter the event (for example, the only Indonesia coffee was papua New Guinea). There are winners for each region, then overall winners. The reason I bring this up is that Colombia had a full table of entrants and the winner for Colombia was this coffee, Los Naranjos de Huila. I cupped it blind against a bunch of new Huila arrivals and it was more dynamic, brighter, crisper, cleaner than the "pooled lots". Indeed, this is a pooled lot too, a combination of a lot of small growers, and not all lots of this coffee have been so stellar, but this one is a standout for me. And since the average production of a farmer in Colombia is around 10 bags, often less than 100 small growers, at altitudes ranging from 1600 to 1900 meters, wet-processed and sun-dried, then cupped, classified and combined based on the cup flavors. Los Naranjos means "The Oranges", but that's not exatly the fruit I get from this cup. The dry fragrance has a tropical fruit smell, with a surprising nutty (macademia) tone in some cups. The wet aroma has sweet lychee and a bit of passionfruit. The cup has a jammy sweetness to it (strawberry preserves), and jasmine tea, especially in the finish. I do get hints of sweet orange in some cups true to the name. The body is not as big as other Colombias, but this is a brighter, much more dynamic cup than other Huilas so far this year. The finish is sweet and fades beautifully, with strawberry accents and a bit of black tea.



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This is an stand-out lot from a fairly large coffee supplier that ships full container loads of coffee. Their coffees (Valencia is simply their brand for Huila coffees, not a farm designation or area) are always good, but this one really jumped out at me for it's brightness, balance, and plain-old drinkability. It was clearly better than the 4 other lots offered. It might sound odd to say, but after tasting a lot of exotics, it's ncie to come back to a solid, classic, balanced cup like this. It takes a wide range of roasts and performs well across the board. Light roasts have clean nutty tones, almond (not like the dry-roasted peanut you find in Brazils). The coffee shows a good bittersweetness starting around Full City through Vienna. There's pear and mango fruit note, very clean and mild, lurking behind the roast flavor, and a good "dark brown sugar" sweetness in the finish. Even at the lightest roasts I tested, the acidity was never too agressive or sour, but makes it's presence known enough to provide that necessary balance and prevent the cup from having the proverbial "flat" taste that lower grown coffees demonstrate. So if you are in need of some relief, or want some solid crowd-pleasing coffee, I can't recommend this lot enough.



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Antioquia coffees haven't been receiving the attention of other coffee-producing areas in Colombia, such as Narino and Huila. Formerly, is was just a part of the great "coffee triangle" known as MAM: Medellin, Antioquia, Manizales. The focus was on quantity, although like all Colombia the coffee came from small-holder farms and was pooled indiscriminately, graded non-sensically for size (Excelso, Supremo, Etc) rather than cup and apellation. Things have changed so much since then, and great coffees are being singled out for special recognition. Now the smaller cooperatives are doing the same on behalf of their "socios", their members. This is a small lot that distinguished itself with outstanding cup character, but also as part of a progressive environmental project at Co-op Andes in Antioquia. The coffee is basically called "Cerulean Warbler Garden"! Hmm... well, it is part iof a specific project for conservation a bird in dire straits, the Cerulean Warbler, with a population of around 500,000. Much of this is due to destruction of mature forest in the Eastern U.S. but the effect of coca-leaf growing and full-sun coffee in it's winter habitat, the Andes, plays a key role. Co-op Andes has forest conservation projects and is shade grown. The Cerulean Warbler lot is a joint effort between small farmer-members of Co-op Andes and a local conservation group. No, there is a not a Cerulean Warbler in every bag, and in fact I diodn't know it was part of an audubon project when I first cupped it ... it was the favors and aroma that impressed me! The dry fragrance is sweet and delicately fruited, with tamarind character and sweet , toasted hazelnut. In the cup there is a wonderful bright tamarind fruit, matching the fruited aromatics, with peach notes as it cools. The aftertaste has this fantastic peach-tamarind flavor linger, and beautifully fade. There's a twist of citrus initially, which passes quickly to the above mentioned fruit, while floral character prevails from start to finish: passionfruit flower. This is an amazing, delicate cup and needs a fairly light roast treatment to preserve these floral aromatic qualities.



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This coffee is from Hernan Fajardo, a member of El Desarrollo cooperative group. The farm is near the town of Gigante in Central Huila department (state), southern Colombia. The dry fragrance of the Buenavista has dark fruits, plum jam and raisin sweet notes. The aromatics are tea-like, but this doesn't come through so much in the cup flavors. There are deep winey hints and concord grape juiciness. The body is notable and compact in relation to the aftertaste, and balances the cup, but does not have the textures of other microlot Colombias. It finishes with a peel of dark chocolate, an interesting transformation from the sweet, winey, juicy initial flavors to the austere bittersweets of the finish.



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Finca Las Mesitas is run by Luis Alejandro Joven, and near the small town of Monanita, in the Timana subregion of south Huila department, about 25 km from Pitalito. The dry fragrance has sugar cane sweetness, slight floral and winey/juicy nuances. The volatile aromatics from the wet grounds had a bittersweet baker's chocolate hint. The cup has tropical fruits, and my C+ roast had a creamy mouthfeel and papaya; papaya mousse! As the cup cools, mild blueberry notes emerge. It's a very suave cup, milder, without aggressive notes, which makes it a real "crowd-pleaser" cup profile.



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Finca El Roble is the farm of Geraldina Chango. She is a member of the AsOrganica coop of Huila, a group that also has great farmer-members in Cauca department. The farm is certified organic, and this lot is grown organically but not certified. The farm is a Cauca district coffee, from the region of Piendamo about 20km north of the city of Popayan. It's a great cup. The dry fragrance of C+ to FC roasts has super sweet fruit and berry notes, with a bit of sweet cocoa. The cup is loaded with tropical fruits, and guyaba sweetness. (Guyaba is the sweet made from Guava - think of a guava fruit roll-up). A very balanced cup, this lot has a milky mouthfeel, which pair well with the milk chocolate bittersweetness that emerge from the roast. The coffee is so sweet and balanced. Lighter roasts have a spritzy, brighter coffee fruit flavor and a more floral aspect. In the finish, I get a spicy hint of turmeric. I liked the balance and body of the FC roast a bit more though; a coffee I could drink all day long!



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This lot is a family effort, as small-farm coffees so often are. Maximino Gutierrez and the adjacent farms of his brothers and sons. they call it Finca Las Florestales, and it has already been recognized with a #11 spot in a recent Cup of Excellence competition. The family grows 100% Caturra cultivar at the end of this remote valley, at altitudes between 1600 - 1800 meters. It's consistently been a standout coffee from the Herrera area, and this has to do with the careful drying of the parchment on the rook of their home! Yes, as in Yemen, they created a flat roof "raised bed" for coffee drying. (It also protects the coffee from theives and FARC guerillas, because unfortunately the area is fairly unstable. Even though I am going to Colombia next week, I can't visit this microregion. But Genevieve Kappler, the "coffee investigator" who sourced this lot for us, was able to go and shared these pictures of Florestales and the Gutierrez family). Anyway, drying is a big issue, and they even cover the coffee if it is too hot out, to avoid drying it too quickly. Maximino's total production is about 5-10 bags of coffee, so the family needs to combine their lots together to form something a bit larger (this year, 21 bags). They use a demucilage machine but then finish the coffee with overnight wet-fermentation, and then a rinse in pure water. The key is perhaps the careful drying I mentioned before, and the coffee is stored overnight in their house. The location is so remote that getting the coffee out of the valley can be an ordeal. The road was washed out for part of the coffee harvest time, and traverses a steep cliff (where more than a few trucks have gone over the edge with their coffee loads!) I initially cupped this coffee blind, with a bunch of small lots, and it jumped out from the rest. The dry fragrance of the grounds has that nice Colombia intensity and balance; some fruited aromas, some savory hints, some chocolate bittersweetness. The wet aromatics feature sweet, raisin fruited tones, plum, and bittersweetness. The cup has a great range, with bright fruited sweetness, the dried fruits detected in the aromatics (raisin, plum), and tangy bittersweet finish. As it cools, the fruits come forward, with a slight winey, tannic edge. The aggressive character of the finish becomes more clear too, a pleasant "coffee bitterness" that let's you know, well, you aren't drinking tea! The in the cool cup, the fruits also possess peach and floral (hibiscus) aspects. It's an accessible coffee too, and (it may shock you that I write this) but it seems like a cup capable of standing up to a moderate amount of milk/cream. Of course, I hypothesize ...



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San Jose de Isnos is in the southwest part of Huila department, and is famous not only for coffee but for its archaeological ruins, namely‚ El Alto de los Idolos and El Alto de las Piedras, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, created by the San Augustin culture in pre-history. It's a rugged terrain with altitude ranging from 1400 - 1800 meters for coffee production. The lots are sun dried in sheltered patios, which protect the coffee in case of unexpected showers (which are common). Adequate drying of coffee can be a problem in areas where rain comes during the drying time for coffee. But in Huila, they care for the coffee well, mainly because all farms are small-holders in size; there are few "estates" in the south. They pick and process coffee in small lots, drying them on covered rooftop "parabolic dryers", like a little greenhouse open on each end to encourage airflow. Many of these smallholders dry on raised beds/screens, which shortens dry time even further. The result is clean coffee, without musty or fermenty fruit flavors, which can happen when coffee dries too slowly. This lot isn't one of our special Farm Gate (direct trade micro-lot) Colombias, just something that cupped nice. This is a very nice cup! The dry fragrance has a dynamic and sweet smell of raisin, chocolate and nut; a very confectionary combination! The aromatics are caramel-like and sweet, and raisin notes come out with some mild hint of citrus. The cup has a medium-light body, and a bracing fruited brightness with tangy roast notes in the finish. The acidity is pleasantly sharp, and pairs well with golden raisin fruit flavor. Acidity and sweetness are tightly knit together. while these comments refer to the recommended City+ roast level, the darker roasts are very nice with dried, dark fruit (Monukka raisin, fig and prune) and chocolate. At most levels of roast, this cup has a compelling fruited complexity.



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This is the second micro-lot from our small-farm selections in the Tolima department of Colombia. Tolima is one of my favorite coffee origins in Colombia, and the Tolima microlot offerings we evaluate through our Colombia Farm Gate program are some of my highest rated. Most of the lots are from Planadas area, a remote zone that is difficult to access. Part of the issue is that Tolima is one of the last active FARC areas where the conflict between the government and the rebels continue, and sadly is is always the land-beholden farmers who suffer. Still, we work through Apcejor Cooperative to access their fantastic coffees, and have designated our specially crafted blend as "Dos Payasos de Tolima" as a riff on the first lot, called Los Pijaos de Tolima. As you might guess, payaso means clown. Not to say there is any nonsense to this lot; it's fantastic! The aromatics here are very complex and sweet (which I attribute partly to the fact this we pay extra to have this coffee vacuum-packed at origin). It's also one of our 3-Star lots, meaning we "built" this coffee by cupping many small individual farm lots, some as small as 40 or 50 kilos, then assembled the Dos Payasos based on cup profile, aiming for brightness balanced by complex deeper-toned flavors. The dry fragrance has rose, some red apple, flame grape and caramel. Adding the hot water, the fruit has a winey ripe aspect, a hint of Kenya-type acidity. The lighter roasts have apple-like brightness, and a pleasant tart, drying quality, a bit like 'apple skins' in the finish. There's dashes of spiciness too; cinnamon stick, clove. The finish is bracing, and a bittersweet balance between caramel and spice lingers. As it cools, orange spice tea becomes a good characterization for the flavors. The body is fairly light.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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Here is the first note I received about the San Pedro coffee competition: "Hector Alfonso Vargas Mayor of Guadalupe, Huila since 1/1/2008 was elected with the Support of coffee growers and promising an agenda of improvement in the social development and change to the political manners in this remote municipality in Huila. His aiming is to encourage the citizens participation (with the support of the local Church / Pastoral Social) and foster development ("Guadalupe Comunitario" and "Guadalupe Sostenible") by doing "Politics" in a different manner than what this community has seen up to now." So one of the first steps was to hold a small, local coffee "concurso," a competition, judged by national cuppers and an exporter, with the top prize being a brand new coffee pulper! The top 25 received awards and a new coffee maker, and all received a premium price for the coffee. This was in June, the product of the mid-year "mitaca" harvest and not the main crop. And the concurso was part of the general celebration for the Dia del San Pedro, hence the name. We agreed to buy the winning lot, which is a mix of the top coffees, and I wasn't quite sure if it would be good (since I wasn't one of the 3 judges). But we were promised we could reject it if it was just average, and I really WANTED it to be good, and support the event and this efforts of the Mayor and the farmers. Happily, the lot arrived and I love it. The coffee has intense-yet-subtle aromatics. In the lighter roasts, sweet raisin notes are embedded in layers of chocolate. Darker roasts have a triad of chocolate-spice-raisin, dense and somewhat pungent to the nose. There some unexpected fruits that surface in the wet aroma; a touch of baked pineapple, blackberry, and apple turnover. It has a sumptuous, darkly sweet character. The cup flavors have strong raisin and dry plum notes. There's clove-like spice accents ... but it's this creamy, thick body that gives the cup such balance in overall character. As it cools, an apple flavor is fleshed out, more specifically, spiced baked apple and apple pie. It finishes with chocolate bittersweetness. Such a balanced coffee, I immediately thought of S.O. espresso, and it is a fantastic shot, even at lighter roast levels (FC) than are possible with other coffees. 2.5 Star???: We have a new approach in Colombia, with 4 tiers of coffee: 1-Star, 2-Star, 3-Star, 4-Star. This lot doesn't quite conform, since it was a competition lot, but I did not personally go to Colombia and select it. It was also not vacuum-packed in Colombia, like our 3 star lots, but it is every bit as good. So, rather jokingly, we call it 2.5 Star. I know, that's a lot of stars to keep track of. Consider that 1-Star = fine Specialty coffee you might find at a good local roaster, 2-Star is regional specialty lots that sometimes can be remarkable (so when we offer a 2-Star, you can assume it really stood out on the cupping table). 3-Star and 4-Star are our direct trade program, Farm Gate Coffee, and involve cupping hundreds of tiny farm-distinct lots.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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La Union is a town in Narino, in the heart of coffee country. The hills all around are heavily planted in coffee, and La Union has mills for processing the coffees. This lot is part of our direct trade Farm Gate program, where we select individual small-farm micro-lots, select the best, and build a blend based on flavor profiles. The fact we have these special lots of coffee vacuum packed rather than traditional jute bag shipping makes a big difference. The arrivals are so much fresher, and the cup character more vibrant. We call this our 3-Star level, one notch below an individual separated lot. Narino coffees are sweet and balanced, and I feel this certified Organic selection has that Narino flavor profile in abundance. The dry fragrance has a real "milk chocolate biscuit" flavor, even in the lighter roasts. It reminds me of the old chocolate wafer cookies. It also has malt smells as well, and honey sweetness. The mellow, malty chocolate theme is evidenced in the wet aromatics too; it's a very attractive cup, if not aromatically a bit simple. The cup flavors have (as you might guess) soft chocolate flavor and milky texture. There's honey flavors, and almond roast taste in the lighter roast levels, City+. The acidity is mild here, softer than other Narino coffees, giving this lot a pleasant, rounded character overall. In the finish is some slight tannic tightness that provides a good counterpoint to the mild sapid flavors. It's a good selection for those who want the sweetness of a Central with less aggressive acidity.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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This is an stand-out lot from a fairly large coffee supplier that ships full container loads of coffee. Their coffees (Valencia is simply their brand for Huila coffees, not a farm designation or area) are always fairly good, but this one really jumped out at me for it's brightness, balance, and plain-old drinkability. It was clearly better than the 4 other lots offered, and I liked it better than the "Supremo" sister lot that shipped with it. Excelso and Supremo have nothing to do with cup quality; they indicate bean size. I like "estate" grade in general, and that is what our fancy 3-Star and 4-Star lots are. It might sound odd to say, but after tasting a lot of exotics, it's nice to come back to a solid, classic, balanced cup like this. Using our new designations, this poor guy rates as a lowly 1 Star lot, since it does not come through our Farm Gate direct trade program, nor is it a regionally designated coffee beyons saying it is from the Department (State) of Huila. It's a huge, huge area, and saying a coffee is a Huila means little to understand it's specific cup character. But what a nice lot this is too, scoring not far beyond our fancy, expensive vacuum-packed Organic Union de Narino coffee. It takes a wide range of roasts and performs well across the board. Light roasts have clean nutty tones, sweet almond (not like the dry-roasted peanut you find in Brazils). The coffee shows a good bittersweetness starting around Full City through Vienna. There's a pear fruit note, very clean and mild, lurking behind the roast flavor, and a good "dark brown sugar" sweetness in the finish. Even at the lightest roasts I tested, the acidity was never too aggressive or sour, but makes it's presence known enough to provide that necessary balance and prevent the cup from having the proverbial "flat" taste that lower grown coffees demonstrate. So if you are in need of some relief from the powerhouse coffees, want something priced well to share with the neighbors, or just want some straight-forward crowd-pleasing coffee, I recommend this lot.



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Tolima is one of my favorite coffee origins in Colombia, and the Tolima microlot offerings we evaluate through our Colombia Farm Gate program are some of my highest rated. Most of the lots are from Planadas area, a remote zone that is difficult to access. Part of the issue is that Tolima is one of the last active FARC areas where the conflict between the government and the rebels continue, and sadly is is always the land-beholden farmers who suffer. Still, we work through Apcejor Cooperative to access their fantastic coffees, and have designated our specially crafted blend as "Los Pijaos de Tolima" in tribute to the indomitable tribe that held the area before colonization. (It's also the nickname for the well-regarded Desportes Tolima soccer team). The aromatics here are sweet, clean and vibrant, which I attribute to the fact this we pay extra to have this coffee vacuum-packed at origin. It's also one of our 3-Star lots, meaning that I "built" this coffee by cupping many small individual farm lots, some as small as 40 or 50 kilos, then assembled the Los Pijaos based on cup profile. Dry fragrance has malted wheat, caramel-chocolate confectionary smells, bittering to a baker's chocolate character at FC roast. In the wet aroma, dried fruits (raisin, prune, apricot) are evident, light brown sugar, and some Concord grape juice in the dark roast. Lighter roasts of Los Pijaos have layers of fruit, nectarine and apricot turning to raisiny sweetness in the finish. It seems that as this coffee hits 2nd crack, it becomes very chocolaty (nicely so) but at the cost of the fruit aspects. (Also of note, the lightest city roast was underwhelming and oddly sharp: You need to hit the C+ to FC roast range here). The fruits are both sweet and fresh, with a well-honed bright edge, nice texture (think of the slight astringency of an apricot), and a mildly drying finish.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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2-Star lot Introduction: We have a new approach in Colombia, with 4 tiers of coffee: 1-Star, 2-Star, 3-Star, 4-Star. I know, that's a lot of stars to keep track of. Consider that 1-Star = fine Specialty coffee you might find at a good local roaster, 2-Star is regional specialty lots that sometimes can be remarkable (so when we offer a 2-Star, you can assume it really stood out on the cupping table). 3-Star and 4-Star are our direct trade program, Farm Gate Coffee, and involve cupping hundreds of tiny farm-distinct lots. This is a stand-out 2 Star coffee from within a high-altitude zone of the Cauca Department, Tierradentro. I was near Tierradentro in early June but unfortunately the numerous mudslides on the road prevented us from heading in that direction. It's the rainy season then, and mudslides are common. It can be a real problem for farmers when the coffee is ready to harvest, and they can't transport it to the wet mill, or later when it needs to get to the centralized dry mills and must not get wet. There's so many factors that can ruin a good coffee. Anyway, this lot is from a coop of small producers, and is blended at the dry-milling stage, but all are in the same zone of Tierradentro. I was really impressed with the fruit and sweetness in this coffee. Dry fragrance has caramel and apple hints, and the wet aroma is fruited with nut tones and honey. In the hot cup, the coffee has clear peach nectar fruit, and as it cools they become a little less clear, but are still very enjoyable. There is an excellent honey sweetness from start to finish, and some almondy roast notes as well. It is interesting how the cup changes from hot to cold, become a bit softer and muted. But the sweetness doesn't go away. The body is medium.



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3-Star lot Introduction: We have a new approach in Colombia, with 4 tiers of coffee: 1-Star, 2-Star, 3-Star, 4-Star. I know, that's a lot of stars to keep track of. Consider that 1-Star = fine Specialty coffee you might find at a good local roaster, 2-Star is regional specialty lots that sometimes can be remarkable (so when we offer a 2-Star, you can assume it really stood out on the cupping table). 3-Star and 4-Star are our direct trade program, Farm Gate Coffee, and involve cupping hundreds of tiny farm-distinct lots. When a coffee is between 86 and 88, it goes into our 3-Star blend, and above 88 it becomes a 4-Star farm-specific lot. 3-Star means that the farmer has been paid a premium price, and that is the case with our Perros Bravos de Huila. Sometimes these tiny lots are less than 1 bag each, say 50 kilos or so of parchment coffee, so it's just impossible to isolate it and sell it separately. We build this Huila coffee after cupping a staggering amount of samples sent direct from Colombia via FedEx every week, tiny "NanoLots," with an overall cup profile in mind. The coffee has been shipped in vacuum-packed mylar bags, in cardboard box, to maximize the original green coffee quality (which often suffers greatly in the hot, humid ports of Colombia. The Perros Bravos has a very sweet fragrance of caramel malt at C+ roast, becoming more toffee/milk chocolate at FC roast. Beyond that (into 2nd crack), fruit disappears so the preferred range is C+ to FC. Wet aromatics from the lighter roasts have a hefty tropical fruit scent and at FC they have Guayaba sweetness. (Guayaba or Goiabada is the sweet paste made from Guava). I also get fleshy apricot flavors, combined with an unusual buckwheat-honey type of sweetness. Its extremely balanced, dense, chocolaty. I get minty flavors and mouth effect from the finish at FC to FC+, which gives it a dynamic zest to the last sapid impression. The lighter roasts cool to a better cup quality, while the FC roast becomes more bittersweet as it loses temperature. Both are really balanced coffees, with a great ratio of acidity to flavor to body, hence a slight cupper's correction.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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This is from a special lot of from the Pitalito area of Huila, that was basically overstock. There was too much, and it seemed wise to send a portion of it for Water Process decaffeination in Mexico than try to sell it all non-decaf. In recent years we have been buying some remarkable coffees from this region of South Huila department, and in fact our most recent Cup of Excellence coffee is from the same area. So what we have here is a verified solid coffee in non -decaf form, that retained great sweetness and balance through the decaf process. (While there is often the strong possibility of a coffee going "flat" at the decaf plant, losing all its origin character, it always helps to start with a great coffee. Traditionally, brokers bought decaf from the plant, coffee supplied from lower grade "stocklots" by the decaffeinator themselves. The results were never very impressive. Now we are able to designate high quality lots, and get these kinds of results). This Pitalito coffee has great brightness in the lighter roasts, as much as any decaf Colombia lots we have ever had, and I dare say it keeps pace with some fine quality non-decaf Colombia offerings. The aromatics are fairly mild, but have marked sweetness, nutty roast tones, and hints of citrus. There are more toasty nut notes in the wet aromatics, with vanilla and sweet apricot. This cup is quite lively and bright at C+ roast levels, reminding me of the really nice Ethiopia decafs. In fact, some might want to take this to FC roast to tone down the cup. I found my favorite roast was FC, before 2nd crack, where the cup had the most balance. The aftertaste has a well defined, cleanly-disappearing sweetness. The body is fairly light at C+, which is not at all a negative because it suits the brisk nature of this cup. It rounds out considerably at FC roast.



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