La Palma y El Tucan - Colombia - Yellow Bourbon - Lactic
Introducing for the first time a coffee from our new friends at La Palma y El Tucan! This is a Lactic Yellow Bourbon from their Warrior series. As you'd expect with anything from them; it is very high quality. Citric, juicy, sweet, with tropical fruits and a creamy body. Expect notes of pineapple, mango, & orange.
If you haven't heard of La Palma y El Tucan by now, where have you been? Among other things, they've claimed the unofficial title of 'Worlds Most Beautiful Coffee Farm', which is certainly uncontested. The farm itself resembles more a rainforest-jungle-paradise than it does a coffee farm. This is a special place, with a special terroir. It is brimming with life, with a river running through it dividing into 2 'sectors'. Oh, it is also an eco-resort. The name comes from two rare species cohabiting on the farm: the Emerald Toucan and the endangered Wax Palm. It represents the symbiotic laws of the natural world, as one cannot thrive without the other. It also embodies their approach to permaculture, sustainability and respect for the land.
Info
Farm
La Palma y El Tucan is a coffee farm, eco-tourism resort, bio-fabric and hotel.
Region
The farm sits high in the mountainous region of Cundinamarca, a 2 hour drive West of Bogota.
Competition
Countless World Brewers Cup and World Barista Championship contenders have used coffees from La Palma's Estate and Varietals program. Notably, Jooyeon Jeon of Momos Coffee in South Korea won WBC in 2019 using their Sidra.
Terroir
La Palma y El Tucan sits at 1800 masl on mineral-rich, black soils. It benefits from warm days and cool nights, with a constant fog covering the mountain.
Variety
Yellow Bourbon is a natural mutation of the classic Bourbon variety, discernible by it's yellow-coloured fruit when ripe.
Process
The Lactic process is an anaerobic fermentation whereby the lack of oxygen supports the formation of lactic acid bacterias. This is, in a way, a variation of our favourite ‘hybrid washed’ process. An oxidation phase, an anaerobic fermentation, pulping, further oxidation in mucilage and then washing.
Estate & Varietals
"La Palma's Estate & Varietals program encompasses only 10% of their production. It is dedicated to exotic varieties, planted on the farms best terroirs, to be meticulously cultivated and processed."
These are all very small nanolots, that are completely traceable from the picker all the way to the amount of time it was fermented and dried at each stage. In short, they are the best of the best. For the program, La Palma built a team of local women who were most in need of employment. Over the years the group has flourished into a supportive team that empowers women to work in fields uncommon to their gender. It is now an elite team who are trained in picking and selecting only the ripest cherries along the exotic varietal lots.
Terroir
“Here we have a very special terroir. The location, the soil, the biodiversity here and the microclimate all contribute to the identity of the coffees.”
At La Palma y El Tucan, the health and longevity of the soils and environment is the top priority. The farm is what can be called an agroforest: coffee trees are planted in and around native trees and plants and blend in as part of the natural landscape. This maintains biodiversity in both flora and fauna and in this way the soils are fertilized with a natural compost of leaf-litter, organic matter and animal waste. The microclimate is also unique, the farm experiences warm days and cool nights, which stresses the coffee plants just enough to produce less fruit but more sugars in the mucillage, which are important in the 'processing' stage.
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