Julian Calderón Pink Bourbon

Julian Calderón

Julian grows coffee on a plot outside the town of Palestina, close to where we’ve bought several Colombian lots over the past few seasons. Together with his father, Julio, who we’ve also purchased coffee from this season, he has forged an honest and straightforward approach to coffee production. Excellent varietals, grown in fertile soils, processed in order to unveil their inherent characteristics. Both Julio and Julian have produced some of the finest coffees we have tasted from Huila over the past few seasons. Our friends from the LaREB collective initially met with Julian, who sold only his second harvest through their collective network. They were then also introduced to his father, and have worked closely together as the pair have been able to produce larger harvests on their young plantations.

Huila

Julian grows coffee near the town of Palestina in southern Huila, one of the most renowned growing regions in Colombia. Huila’s volcanic soils, undisturbed by the intensive agriculture seen further north, are full of nutrition, and alongside high altitude, lead to excellent conditions for producing high quality coffees. We also see a great number of driven and agile small farmers here, many of whom have family history in coffee, but haven’t necessarily been working on the same large industrialised farms for generations, like we see in more established coffee regions. This leads to a willingness to experiment, to innovate, and create lots that fulfil ever changing needs in the speciality coffee market. One example of this is Pink Bourbon, said to be a natural mutation discovered in Huila, an exotic varietal that exhibits crisp and clean aromatic character, often with floral and tropical elements.