This week we have 2 single-producer washed Colombian Pink Bourbon microlots, exported by LaREB(La Real Expedición Botánica,) a collective of coffee producers and professionals united by a common goal: pursuing quality and consistency on the producing side while building long term partnerships with discerning roasters who will do those coffees justice in the final product. Everyone we have been in contact with at LaREB shows a clear passion and love for the craft of specialty coffee and it's made clear, both in the quality of green, and in the quality of their roasted coffee. We recently got to swap roasted samples with Herbert, one of the founders, and it was a beautiful thing to be able to discuss roast theories and taste the nuanced differences in approach on the cupping table. 

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Durley Sánchez Pink Bourbon Washed:

The Sánchez Family is very lauded in the specialty coffee community, having grown from just one small farm founded by Durley and Rigoberto's father in 1949, they are now spread across several plots of land in southern Huila. At 1650masl, Durley's land is tended with careful precision and care, from growing to processing. Processing starts with overripe cherry selection, immediate depulping, and then a 60-80 hour closed dry fermentation without mucilage. The seeds are then moved to a Greenhouse drying setup on raised beds for 15 days. As a result. our experience with this coffee in the roaster was stellar. The very uniform beans roasted almost exactly like a washed Ethiopian, with a very robust structure that could take an incredible amount of heat energy with an incredibly light final development. In the cup, we find a delicious green and yellow grassy fruit tone that reminds us of Pine needles and lemon sorbet. The body is very tealike, reminiscent of a high quality, fresh harvest sencha green tea. with a very loud and perfumey jasmine aromatic note that lingers long on the finish, like burying your nose in a bag of Jasmine Pearls. 

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Rigoberto Sánchez Pink Bourbon Washed:

Rigoberto's farm sits at 1650masl in Palestina, Southern Huila. The landscape is filled with beautifully healthy Rosado trees, shade trees hovering over them in plentiful soil. Much the same as Durley's Pink Bourbon lot, the processing here starts with overripe picking, before a gentle 12 hour in-cherry fermentation, before being depulped and moved to a dry, covered mass fermentation without mucilage for 48 hours. The resulting cup is incredibly juicy and lively, opening up with a cup of fresh mixed fruit, like blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry. A structured and sweet acidity rips like lightning through the center of this cup, like a tangy and aromatic lemon syrup reduction. Bergamot and rose linger long on the finish.