Colombia German Ortiz
A high intensity but balanced cup with distinct flavors of crisp pink lady apple, cherry and orange. The cup has high sweetness with a light and juicy body, and a distinct floral quality characteristic of Pink Bourbon.
The Farm:
Region: Bruselas, Huila
Municipality: Cabeceras
Producer: German Ortiz
Finca: Finca Mi Terruño
Variety: 90% Pink Bourbon, 10% Bourbon ají,
Processing: Washed
Elevation: 1,500 m
This is our 2nd season purchasing from finca Mi Terruño which is owned and operated by German Ortiz. German is a member of Los Guácharos, a group of independent, quality-focused smallholder producers in Bruselas, Southern Huila (close to Pitalito) and was one of the founding presidents of the Los Guácharos group, well over ten years ago. Finca Mi Terruño, is located in the township of Cabeceras at around 1500 masl, and he has two lots- one around his house, and another that’s at a slightly higher elevation- that represents about 4 hectares. One of his lots has about 1000 pink bourbon trees, as well as 4000 Variedad Colombia trees, and 3000 castillo trees. His other lot has about 8000 trees, mixed between Caturra, Castillo, Bourbon Ajì and Variedad Colombia. This particular lot is 90% Pink Bourbon and 10% Bourbon Ají. The latter is a new variety, taking off in popularity in Huila as the trees themselves seem to be resistant to fungal issues like coffee leaf rust and the cup quality is super high.
Processing:
To process his coffee, German first leaves coffee for an initial cherry fermentation for about 24 hours, and then de-pulps the coffee and leaves it to continue fermenting in sealed pickle barrels for another 24-36 hours. He dries his coffee on a traditional parabolic dryer.
Farm Management:
The Los Guácharos Group is collectively converting to organic agriculture, making their own fertilizers and fungicides, and installing complex water filtration systems that use gravity, stones and sand to remove all mucilage residues from waste water to not contaminate water systems. Many of the Guácharos members also produce a compost tea (called Super Magro) made up of organic minerals and waste products, molasses, bone ash and manure (among other ingredients), fermented with microorganisms collected from virgin soils and used as a fertilizer and protectant from disease. The Super Magro is edible, incredibly effective, and represents a producer-driven grassroots movement empowering producers to increase soil health, reduce costs and stop dependence on chemicals.German has been using calcium sulfate for the last four years, and he’s seen good results- despite being at relatively low altitudes, he hasn’t seen much roya around his farm.
