Las Perlitas - Colombia - Pink Bourbon - Washed - Espresso
A beautiful Pink Bourbon through our friends at The Coffee Quest Colombia. This is a group lot of separated Pink Bourbon from various farmers throughout the Huila region. Only the highest scoring lots make it in to this blend, aptly named 'Little Pearls'. Expect a floral, juicy cup with notes of hibiscus, mandarin, & papaya.
Las Perlitas is a combination of small lots with similar profiles, all scoring above 86 points, from small-scale producers throughout Huila. It's quite common that small-holders produce lots that aren't large enough to be exported on their own, however the quality can be just as good (or even better!) than larger lots. Generally, the Pink Bourbon cherries that make up Las Perlitas would have been mixed into a group lot along with all of the other coffee grown in the region and transported to one central mill. That bulk lot would generally be of lower quality, and therefore fetch a lower price. However this is a great way to reward producers for producing high quality coffee by separating their best coffees to produce a larger, higher quality lot that fetches a higher price.
Info
Exporter
The Coffee Quest Colombia operate both wet and dry mills in Huila and Antioquia, where they work with mostly smallholder farmers to milled or process their coffee.
Region
Huila is geographically perfect for coffee growing and is quickly becoming one of Colombias biggest coffee growing regions.
Cooperative
Coffee farming in Huila is predominently small-scale. Approximately 80% of producers from the region farm coffee on less than 3 hectares of land.
Elevation
High altitudes help to lower temperatures in Huila’s warm, tropical climate.
Variety
This lot is 100% Pink Bourbon, an Ethiopian landrace variety famed for it's florality, tea-like quality & citrus notes.
Process
Huila’s humid climate make it difficult to produce natural coffees, so the majority of the coffee is washed. This lot sees variations in fermentation times between producers, between 24 and 72 hours.
Pink Bourbon
“The mistakenly-named Pink Bourbon is not a Bourbon at all, nor a mutation of Bourbon, but actually an Ethiopian landrace variety”
The origins of how this Ethiopian landrace variety, with its pinkish-hued fruit, landed in Colombia is a mystery. The most likely explanation is that someone, at some time, tried to bring in Gesha seed from Ethiopia and instead ended up with what we now know as Pink Bourbon. What we do know however, is that this person lived in Huila, and planted the variety alongside an abundance of Bourbon.
Suspicions that this ‘Pink Bourbon’ was not actually Bourbon at all quickly came about when the pink-variation began dominating cupping tables with a profile unlike any other Bourbon before it. The pronounced florality, citric acidity and tea-like quality set it on a path to become a highly sought after cult-favourite amongst the specialty coffee world. Reminiscent of some other Ethiopians landraces before it…
Las Perlitas
“Las Perlitas was created to better showcase the quality of coffee being produced in the region and also to showcase singular varieties, such as this uniquely expressive Pink Bourbon” Our friends at The Coffee Quest had the ingenius idea to seperate only the highest scoring coffees to create a higher quality group lot that could in turn sell for a higher price. The result was outstanding, as this lot scores at over 87 points and truly showcases the beauty of one of Huilas renowned varieties, Pink Bourbon. One could argue that a seperated group lot such as this is a greater expression of Pink Bourbon from Huila than a single lot, from a single farm. The farms that make up Las Perlitas are at different elevations, with different microclimates, the trees are of different ages, and possibly most uniquely, are fermented and dried differently based on each producers equipment, conditions, and preference. This creates a complex and layered coffee and is a fantastic expression of variety and teroir.
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