Here’s a special treat from Huila!

BORBON AJI

Bourbon aji is a new variety that is taking off in popularity in Huila, and Ildefonso has been busy prepping seedlings for the group, since he manages a seed nursery – Vivero Cordoba. Ildefonso got the seeds originally from another farm in the township of La Esperanza, and the variety is native to Bruselas – the town around which the Guácharos members are based. The variety has piqued a lot of group members’ interest- the trees themselves seem to be resistant to fungal issues like coffee leaf rust, and the cherries ripen to a chili color, and some producers say that they think that the cherry has a slight spiciness to it- hence the “aji” (chili) name! Some pickers say that their fingers sting a bit after picking the cherries too. Around Bruselas, another local producer- Jose Salazar- won 6th place in Colombia’s Cup of Excellence competition using a borbon aji coffee, though genetic tests have more recently revealed that the variety itself is actually not a borbon, but an Ethiopian landrace.

PROCESSING

Ildefonso has his process down to a careful science! On day 1, he picks cherries, and leaves the coffee in cherry for 60 hours in sealed plastic bags. He floats the cherries to remove the over- and under-ripe cherries, and then de-pulps them, using a screen to further remove stray pulp that can make it into the tank, and ensure a homogenous fermentation. He ferments coffee in sealed plastic barrels with one-way valves for off-gassing, and he monitors the fermentation carefully – each lot ferments differently, so he doesn’t rely on specific hours, though it can be close to 70 hours. He washes the coffee once, and then takes it down to his drying deck.

Pricing transparency: we personally paid Ildefonso $4,500,000 pesos per carga of parchment via our Colombian entity Shared Source SAS.