Fruits were a big part of the cup profile in light roast. This is not a “refined” coffee, but rather loaded with heavy-handed flavors that touch on winey fruits and rustic sweetness too. At darker roast, highlighted flavors of prune juice, apples cooked with cinnamon, plum wine, and stewed cherries with some skin bittering in there.
This honey processed coffee comes from Cristian Martinez in the Aponte region, just east of Buesaco town. His farm, “Vista Hermosa”, sits at 1980 meters above sea level, and is roughly 4 hectares in size, 3 of which are devoted to coffee. Like so many in the area, Cristian’s farm is planted in a mix of Caturra and Variedad Colombia, the latter a hybrid known for high yield and disease resistance.
Aponte belongs to the “Inga” tribe, a pre-Colombian ethnic group related to the Incas, their native tongue being Inga Kichwa. Aponte is located in a misty paramó region around 1900 meters above sea level and the farmers in this growing region produce mainly Caturra an Variedad Colombia, the latter being a disease resistant hybrid. What’s interesting about the coffee from this region is that honey processing is the standard post harvest process method. Each producer handles their own processing at home too, which can mean quite a bit of flavor variation from one neighbor to the next. The land where the coffee is grown is owned by the community, but each producer is in charge of specific plots and can sell the coffee they produce.
Honey Processing is a processing method where the coffee cherry and some of the fruit is mechanically removed, leaving behind a thin layer of fruit which is then laid out on raised beds to dry. Drying can take more than 2 weeks, the prolonged exposure to the coffee fruit causing a very subtle and slow fermentation to occur, and often imparts fruit-like flavors in the coffee itself.
Bean spec:
- Origin: Colombia
- Region: Aponte, Buesaco, Cauca
- Producer: Cristian Martinez
- Farm: Vista Hermosa
- Altitude: 1980m
- Cultivar: Caturra, Variedad Colombia
- Processing: Honey process, Covered Sun-Dried
- Sourcing: Sweet Maria’s