El Embrujo

Origin: Caldas, Colombia

Process: Anoxic Natural

Variety: Pink Bourbon

Importer: Sucafina

Harvest: 2023/2024

Per-Kilogram green price: £16.43

Amount purchased: 70kg

Producer Info:

Ignacio Rodriguez’s father purchased the first 3 hectares of Finca La Palmera in 1969 . Through tireless work, he continued expanding the farm, which reached 165 hectares by the time Ignacio inherited it. Today, Ignacio applies the same spirited focus to producing specialty-quality coffees.  

The name “embrujo” comes from the Spanish word for “spell”. Ignacio believes that truly excellent specialty coffee will evoke the “magic of coffee” for drinkers. To this end, he is focused on transitioning from traditional agriculture to a more specialty focus. Ignacio is building a laboratory and microbiology lab to help him better understand the process at the biological level and ultimately improving his processing for consistency and flavor. 

La Palmera is one of the few large estates in the region where 90% of farms are under 5 hectares. This makes them one of the few year-round employers for farm workers and they take their role seriously. They have 7 rooming houses that provide comfortable, safe spaces for workers. Workers receive 3 meals a day and are paid a premium to work at La Palmera. Ignacio also employs 48 women year-round. These women, many of whom are single mothers supporting their families, ensure high-quality by sorting cherry and parchment to remove any defective beans. In addition to coffee, Ignacio also grows avocados and maize.  Buffoon is a profile-driven blend. Processing has been designed to achieve these flavor profiles.  

Variety Info: Pink Bourbon was previously thought to be a hybrid of Yellow and Red Bourbon varieties. The variety was first identified growing in and around Huila, Colombia. Recent research has found that Pink Bourbon is in fact not Bourbon at all. Pink Bourbon mostly likely comes from an Ethiopian landrace variety.

Pink Bourbon has a stunningly high cup potential that wows coffee professionals and consumers alike. Its impressively high cup quality makes even more sense now that we understand Pink Bourbon is not simply a hybrid of two Bourbon varieties but traces to Ethiopian landraces. Its siblings include the highly-prized Geisha, which has consistently produced incredibly high cup scores. Pink Bourbon will continue to be a highly distinguished and valued variety. Some farmers also report that Pink Bourbon has more disease resistance than the Bourbons it grows alongside. Based on these new discoveries, this may be due to the genetic variety it has coming from Ethiopian landraces.  

Processing: Coffee is selectively handpicked by laborers. A “patron” oversees picking to ensure only ripe, red cherry is selected. To ensure the highest quality cherry, Ignacio pays harvesters above the going rate. Once at the on-farm processing center, cherry is floated to remove underripes and then transported to moving belts where women hand sort cherry, removing any damaged cherry. Cherry is placed in 25kg plastic bags and placed in 2,500kg tanks. The tank is filled with water to create an oxygen-less (anoxic) environment. Cherry ferments for 96 hours and pH and Brix (sugar content) are measured frequently to ensure the proper level of fermentation is reached. Following fermentation, cherry is placed in mechanical dryers on low heat. It takes approximately 140 hours for cherry to dry. Once dried, coffee is placed in Grainpro bags and rested before being prepared for export.