The Pink Bourbon varietal is a relatively new discovery in the world of coffee varieties and has created a lot of buzz in the industry. We are excited to share an example of this fun, complex coffee with you. We recently sourced a washed Pink Bourbon from San Agustin in Huila, Colombia and it’s now available on our greens page and Toll Roasting menu.
An important farm partnership
This coffee comes to us from Asociación Los Naranjos via our friends Cafe Imports. Asociación Los Naranjos is a group of 50–60 smallholder producers, one of which is a Cup of Excellence winner, who live and work in the area around San Agustín, Huila. This is one of Cafe Imports' longest-standing partnerships. In addition to sourcing great coffee from these producers, Cafe Imports has also utilized data from these farms to contribute towards their ongoing observational study of the impacts of water activity in specialty green coffee.
The gateway region of Huila
San Agustin in Huila, Colombia is located in the southwest region of the country, in the Magdalena River Valley. Fun fact: the first European contact with the potato was in 1537 in this region, and was most likely how the potato was introduced in Europe. The combination of elevation, frequent rainfall, and subtropical climate make for the ideal coffee growing conditions. Around 15% of global coffee production comes from Colombia, with Hulia producing 20% of the country’s coffee. Most farmers are operating on less than three hectares of land, meaning coffee production is extremely dense and efficient.
Photo courtesy of Cafe Imports
The fabled Pink Bourbon varietal
While the Bourbon varietal has been around for centuries, and been in Colombia for quite some time as well, the Pink Bourbon is a relatively new discovery. In the 1980’s, coffee leaf rust was becoming a problem in Colombia, so producers started growing what they called Pink Bourbon for its resistance to the disease as well as the high yield.
Until recently, Pink Bourbon was believed to be a hybrid between Red and Yellow Bourbon. This made sense, as some of the cherries were round and dense, and Bourbon was being cultivated in the area. In 2023, Cafe Imports published an article stating that the genetic test results of Pink Bourbon showed that the varietal is an Ethiopian Landrace varietal.
The term “Landrace” is somewhat interchangeable with “Heirloom” which is an umbrella term for a lot of Ethiopian coffee varietals. While the specific heritage of these coffees is hard to trace, what we do know is that they have been cultivated in Ethiopia for generations. Most coffee from Ethiopia that is not the Gesha or WushWush varietal is usually described as Landrace or Heirloom, to denote that it is an original Ethiopian coffee.
How the Pink Bourbon varietal got to Colombia isn’t clear, but bringing over an African varietal to the Americas is a tale as old as time. In hindsight, the Ethiopian lineage checks out. Pink Bourbon cups extremely well and has delicate flavor notes not unlike the characteristics of washed coffees from Ethiopia, of lemonade, sweet florals, and white tea.
Washed processing for clarity
Like the majority coffees from Colombia, this coffee is a washed process coffee. While every coffee is processed slightly differently from farm to farm, the washed process is relatively standard. Coffee is picked and then depulped the same day, then fermented in open air tanks for anywhere between 12-36 hours. After fermentation, the coffee is washed clean of any mucilage before drying on a patio, in parabolic dryers, solar dryers, or mechanically.
Colombia Pink Bourbon on our menu
When shopping for greens to build our summer and early fall menus, this Pink Bourbon offering caught our eye immediately. These offerings from Colombia get purchased quickly so we worked fast to contract with Cafe Imports. We were able to secure this coffee in advance of its arrival in the US. As our roastery operations continue to grow, we have more of these opportunities to lock in a larger amount of coffee, which helps us ensure its availability.
This coffee is syrupy, sweet, and complex in tasting notes. We know from experience that a coffee like this is going to stand up to multiple roast levels. The cup is complex and we prefer a light to medium roast level. When we do push it to our darker roast levels, we'll only roast until we hear the outliers of the second crack for mild roast notes and cooked fruit characteristics.
We love this coffee on drip and are offering it to our Toll Roasting customers at a few different roast levels because it's a versatile and delicious coffee.
References
Cafe Imports. Pink…Bourbon?: Cryptozoology and Genetics in Specialty. Ian Fretheim, 2023.https://www.cafeimports.com/north-america/blog/2023/09/26/pink-bourbon-cryptozoology-and-genetics-in-specialty-coffee/ Accessed June 21, 2024
Cafe Imports. Offerings, 2024. https://www.cafeimports.com/north-america/offerings?view=beanology.view.asociaciyen-los-naranjos-san-agustin-huila-pink-bourbon-washed-22423 Accessed June 21, 2024
