Popayán

Origin

• 🇨🇴 Colombia· Cauca

Tasting notes

Character

• Clean
  30

JuicyAcidityThe bright, lively, fruit-like sensation in coffee — praise, not a flaw. Citric sparkle, malic apple-crispness, tartaric wine notes; light roasts preserve more of it. flavours of tangerine and stone-fruits combine with caramel and a hint of cacao nibs, with sugar cane in the finish. Located in the Cauca department of southwestern Colombia, the Meseta de Popayán sits nestled between the Western and Central ranges of the Andes at 1,700 to 2,000 metres above sea level. The surrounding mountain ranges act as a naturalNatural processThe whole cherry is dried with the fruit still on the seed. Gives heavier body and big fruit flavors — think berries and wine — sometimes with a fermenty edge. buffer – keeping temperatures steady between 14 and 29°C year-round, humidity around 75%, and creating a gradual growing season that allows sugars to build slowly and thoroughly. The result is a coffee that's bright and clean, with that signature Cauca sweetness baked in. This coffee comes to us through Cofinet, a Colombian importer who've been running the Popayán Reserve project since 2015. They work closely with around 75 smallholderSmallholderA farmer growing coffee on a small family plot — often under two hectares. Most of the world's coffee is grown this way, typically pooled at cooperatives or washing stations. farmers in the region, most growing on plots of less than five hectares. Cherries are milled at Cofinet's Meseta de Popayán facility, where processing and quality control are handled centrally. In return, farmers can earn premiums of up to 20% above market price – tied directly to cup quality, so the incentive to bring in the best cherries runs deep. Cofinet also sends agronomists to work with individual producers directly, and invites farmers to cup their own coffees. The latter might sound like an obvious step, but producers delivering to mills often never taste their own work. These cuppings change that. The varieties here – Colombia, CastilloCastilloColombia's leaf-rust-resistant variety, bred by Cenicafé from Caturra and Timor hybrid. Long dismissed by purists, it now wins competitions when grown and processed well., CaturraCaturraA natural dwarf mutation of Bourbon found in Brazil: compact plants, easier picking, bright and clean cup. A workhorse across Latin America., Catimor, and TypicaTypicaThe oldest cultivated arabica lineage, ancestor of most Latin American coffee. Low yield, clean and sweet cup; the baseline other varieties are measured against. – tell a distinctly Colombian story. Castillo and the Colombia varietyVariety (cultivar)The botanical subtype of the coffee plant — Gesha, Bourbon, SL28 — analogous to grape varieties in wine. A major driver of cup character alongside origin and process. are sometimes met with a raised eyebrow in specialty circles; both are rust-resistant hybrids developed by Cenicafé, Colombia's national coffee research centre, and have historically been associated with commodity rather than specialty production. Grown at this altitude, and with this level of care behind them, that reputation doesn't hold. Caturra and Typica contribute brightness and clarity; Castillo and the Colombia variety add bodyBodyThe weight and texture of coffee in the mouth, from tea-like and delicate to syrupy and heavy. Driven by process, roast, variety, and brew method. and s