Colombia Inmaculada Fellows Bourbon Ají Filter

This Bourbon Ají comes through the Fellows Farms project of Inmaculada Coffee Farms, the Holguín family estate in Pichindé, in the hills above Cali, Colombia. Inmaculada works with smallholder partners in neighbouring Cauca, in El Tambo, Piendamó and Caldono, buying their ripe cherries and handling the fermentation and drying at its own mill.

Before coffee, the Holguín family spent decades in sugarcane and palm, and they planted Inmaculada in 2010 on land beside Farallones de Cali National Park. Twelve years later the Fellows project brought their processing know-how to neighbouring growers, who now receive quality premiums and training in selective picking, so only fully ripe cherries reach the mill.

This lot is washed: the cherries are pulped, fermented and rinsed clean before drying, which keeps the flavours crisp and transparent and lets the variety speak for itself. Honeysuckle opens the cup, green apple and gooseberry bring a tangy lift and cane sugar adds a gentle sweetness. It makes a bright, floral specialty filter coffee for a V60 or Kalita, with the clarity of a fine white tea and a finish that stays sweet as it cools, showing a lighter, more delicate side of Colombian coffee.