Source Analysis by Charlie Habegger
Multi-farm blends in Colombia are practically a necessity for exporters, given that the country’s 500,000 producers average only a single hectare or so. This microlot is a unique twist on the status quo, combining the pickings of one very rare cultivar grown on 14 different farms in the same small region, giving us a sizable representation of genetics and terroir.
Records indicate that the cultivar we know as Java was selected from a few mother trees in Ethiopia by the Dutch coffee researcher P.J.S. Cramer in 1928. Seeds from these trees were sent to Java, and the plants flourished and showed resistance to leaf rust where other Arabica varieties had faltered. To this day, in Indonesia the cultivar is referred to as Abyssinia (or as cognates Adsenia or Abissinie), the name of Ethiopia at the time. The trees look very similar to Typica, and were frequently attributed as such, but true Abyssinia-Java’s provenance is directly Ethiopian, from 20th century selections. It continued its journey from Indonesia to Cameroon and thereafter to Central America where it can still be found with some frequency.
Southern Huila
Huila is arguably Colombia’s best-known department for top microlots. Huila’s geographical accessibility, dense population of knowledgeable farmers, warm and subtropical forests, high elevations, and microclimate diversity have for many years sustained one of specialty coffee’s most beloved regions. The fact that most of the department is harvesting coffee almost every month of the year, means that fresh coffee is always available.
Huila is a long and narrow valley that follows a winding gap between two large cordilleras of the Andes. Uphill from the valley’s lush and picturesque lower slopes (Colombia’s 950-mile long Magdalena river has its source in southern Huila and has shaped the agriculture here for centuries) are a diverse array of coffee producing communities, often dramatically steep, and each with their own unique climate and history.
Palestina, Timaná, La Argentina, and Oparapa are all communities in the vicinity of Pitalito, located in the southern end of Huila’s central valley. They are rugged and densely tropical landscapes home to a large number of sharp, experienced, and ambitious coffee producers with options to sell their coffee to a number of competing buyers. When many roasters think of Huila, they think of this area.
The Farms & Processing
The 14 farms involved are coordinated by Mastercol Coffees, an exporter specialized in representing innovative producers and coffees. Farms range from 1.5 to 4 hectares in size, and the farmers have all been producing coffee for at least the past 20 years. Working with Mastercol, the growers feel they have the support they need to maximize the quality of their farms, as well as their income—creative microlots like this one are a great example of this, since any one farmer’s java would only amount to a few hundred pounds.
At each farm the java plants, like all others, are harvested manually and with the help of extended families. Once the ripe cherry is picked it is fermented in nylon bags for 36-48 hours to allow internal sugars to peak and the fruit flesh to soften. The belief with the additional cherry fermentation is that the sugars and liquids present in the coffee cherry combine and influence the seed prior to fruit removal, intensifying the overall sweetness and clarity of fruit notes in the final cup. After the cherry ferment, a traditional depulping is carried out, followed by a traditional open tank fermentation of the parchment that lasts between 50-80 hours depending on the climate. Once this is complete, the parchment is washed clean with fresh water and moved to sun-dry for 15-20 days.
