Colombia – Cauca

This blend of coffee from Inzá is made up of coffees from small producers in Vereda San Antonio, Inzá (“vereda” being the equivalent of a small neighborhood). The province of Inzá is located in Southwestern Colombia within the greater Department of Cauca. As you make the drive from La Plata to Inzá, you follow the Rio Páez, and an eventual crossing over a suspension bridge lands you on the road to the the villages whose coffees make up this blend. Like much of Colombia, Cauca is home to some very high altitude farms, many breaching the 2000 meter mark, the coffee from this lot harvested from an altitude range of about 1600 to 2000 meters. This is a wet-processed coffee, most farmers using old style hand-cranked pulpers, fermenting and washing in the same tank, and then drying out on raised, covered beds. Most farms have a healthy amount of Caturra planted, as well as some of the common Timor hybrids you see in Colombia, like Variedad Colombia and Tabi, that were produced for disease resistance and higher productivity.

The dry fragrance had a clean raw sugar sweetness with accents of fragrant caramel and spice. After pouring the hot water, the coffee smelled very sweet, and pulled out a scent of light brown sugar, spiced tea, and dried apple. This coffee from San Antonio makes a very sweet cup at a wide range of roasts, with lively brightness that’s mouth refreshing in light roasts. Our roast boasts raw sugar flavors at the front of the cup, accented by fruited hints of golden raisin, juicy plum, and some fruit skin bittering in the finish. As I moved through the cup, the cooling coffee delivered a tart-to-sweet aspect that brought to mind honey-sweetened black tea, with subtle spice notes that impacted the cup aroma, and made for a complex aftertaste. The mild top notes provided uniquely contrast to the balanced bittersweet flavors, and the acidic impression shifted from tangy citrus to tannic teas.