Villamaria Pink Bourbon - Colombia

Raspberry Lemonade, Fresh Plum, Grapefruit

Producer: Villamaria
Country: Colombia
Region: Caldas
Variety: Pink Bourbon
Process: Washed

In late 2024 our Head of Coffee, David, travelled to Colombia with Raw Material (who imported this coffee) to take part in a weeklong course covering coffee production from farm planning through to sending the final product out to the world. The week was a mix of classroom and practical work on the farm, all of which was alongside local producers, including Andreas who is the managing director of Villamaría and son of the owner.

The work of Raw Material in Colombia, alongside producing coffees from their farm at El Feníx itself, is to work where there are gaps in current support structures, in areas that are important to the local communities whilst maximising their impact by understanding their capabilities. Having seen their work first hand David was keen to point out that the mission statement does sound quite lofty but the evidence of Raw Material’s impact is very tangible when spending time with the producers. Raw Material have worked with Villamaría for several years, and with each year the quality of production increases whilst focusing on increasing the quality of life for those so often left behind in coffee production – the people who actually produce it.

 Villamaría is a municipality in the department of Caldas, a few kilometres from the city of Manizales. Villamaría’s washing station, “Jamaica”, is located in Chinchiná, Caldas. The station represents the harvests of 30 to 50 producing families, from the surrounding area of Villarazo; these farms sit above the level of the washing station, which is about 500 metres lower at 1300m.a.s.l. The station can process washed, honey and natural lots, with this Pink Bourbon being processed as washed to draw out the vibrant acidity and dense sweetness associated with the varietal.

The careful processing has produced a coffee that has lots of fruit, both in sweetness and acidity. At the first tasting of this coffee the consistent notes of raspberry and lemon were common to everyone, with the suggestion that it actually tasted a bit like a raspberry lemonade causing quite a few,” Oh, yeah, it really does!” When brewed as a filter the fresh plum is most obvious when the cup is warm, with pink grapefruit too. If you’re brewing espresso you’ll get these notes more on the aftertaste, but you can emphasise the plum by increasing your shot strength (I’d recommend 1g more in your dose as a good start point).

Grind: If you need your coffee ground, select on the dropdown. Let us know in the "Special Instructions" if there is any other specific brew method you need the coffee ground for.