Colombia Pink Bourbon x Honey x Lychee

Where in the world?

What’s the story?

Taking creativity and fruit driven coffee to the next level, this lychee infused honey process pink bourbon is a wonderful harmony of intense sweetness and exotic fruit flavours. The fruity flavours are clean and well defined rather than boozy. There is a soft and smooth mouthfeel and mouth watering juicy pear acidity and also definite floral note that we had as hibiscus. It really is a remarkably delicious coffee.
This coffee was grown by Jairo Arcila on his farm Santa Mónica. Jairo, his wife Maria and sons Felipe and Carlos have been responsible for pioneering much of the work done with co-fermented coffees over the last few years. We’ve had cinnamon, strawberry, banana and now…lychee!

Coffees fermented with added fruit are controversial, love them or hate them coffees, but what we have noticed over the last few years is that the ones using the Pink Bourbon varietal really do hit different. The natural fruity complexity of the varietal holds up so well to the addition of wine yeasts and dried fruit, and there is a natural harmony to the flavours rather than a sense of the coffee being overwhelmed. This Pink Bourbon varietal is currently under research in order to determine its origin. It is said that it is a mutation of bourbon that took place at 2100 MASL in San Adolfo, Huila.

In the Bad Old Days, coffee was thought of as a dull basic ingredient, an agricultural product that was only brought to life by the magic of roasting. Poor farmers were there to provide a commercial product that we made special. But oh boy how things have changed. The massively increased demand for specialty coffee over the last 20 years has seen increasing focus on the work being done by coffee growers. They do the magic, our job is not to spoil it.

This coffee was exposed to a dry anaerobic fermentation period of 72 hours with the pulp on. During this fermentation stage, dehydrated lychee was added. Later, the coffee was pulped and placed on raised beds below 35°C until ideal moisture content was achieved.This micro-lot is 100% Pink Bourbon.

All we are doing as roasters is developing the flavours we are handed by excellent and innovative producers and this is an absolute coffee love bomb of an example.