Colombia - Zarza - Rare/Exclusive Filter

Colombia - Zarza - Rare/Exclusive Filter

This is on of the first two coffees that we have brought in from Cata Export, very excited to have another Pink Bourbon in the roastery, this exciting lot comes from Alejandra Munoz and her farm Zarza, which is in the Huila region of Colombia. 

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• Producers + Mill:

Alejandra Muñoz, is a young woman from Brussels-Pitalito, located in the mountains of the south-east of the department of Huila in Colombia, she is a 26-year-old girl who is proud of the path that she has just begun to travel in the world of coffee.

The Zarza farm, which has more than 6 hectares and is located at 1,540 meters above sea level in the municipality of Pitalito, has different varieties and currently they have opted to also enter the world of specialty coffees.

Family work, respect, and the love that one has in this work, make the Zarza farm continue to grow and position itself as producers of quality coffees and although they are clear that there is a long way to go, they are very proud of the value of their coffee.

“Women have always been fundamental in the journey that coffee follows from the bean to the cup.

Women are a catalyst for change and are essential for cocoa farming communities to thrive. Empowering them at the individual, household and community levels strengthens the impact we have with Cata Export. We believe that gender equality benefits us all. For this reason, promoting the empowerment of women is one of the principles of our program and is sustained in all our work, in our three key areas of intervention”. - Alejandra Munoz.

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• Varieties:

Pink Bourbon: 

The Bourbon coffee variety dates back to the 1700s when French missionaries first introduced it on Bourbon Island in the Indian Ocean. The island is called Réunion today and the missionaries moved on to Latin America in the middle of the 1800s. It was first grown in Brazil around 1860 and cultivation spread from there throughout Latin America. Because the standard Bourbon variety is susceptible to coffee leaf rust, it does best at higher altitudes at or above 1,800 meters where leaf rust is less likely to occur. Bourbon produces a tall coffee plant, excellent coffee, and medium to low production. It much of Latin America, basic Bourbon has been replaced by offshoots such as Caturra, Catuai, and Mundo Novo.

But around Huila Colombia in the Andes Mountains, growers still specialize in growing Bourbon coffee and a cross-bred variety, pink Bourbon.Pink Bourbon gets its name from the fact that the ripe berries are pink instead of red. Coffee farmers around Huila, Colombia produce the variety by cross-breeding yellow and red Bourbon. It has greater resistance to leaf rust than either the yellow or red variety.

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• Process:

●  Collection and hand selection of 100% ripe cherry

● Oxidation process for 24 hours

● Anaerobic fermentation of cherry with peel in plastic bag for 24 hrs to lower temperature

● De-pulp process in de-pulping machine

● Second anaerobic fermentation in plastic bag for 32 hours

● Thermal shock process to remove mucilage

● Wash the cherry with spring water to remove any last impurities

● The coffee is taken to the dryer depending on the weather for a maximum of 8 days, it is removed 4 times a day for homogeneity

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• Region: Pitalito, Huila

• Producer: Alejandra Munoz

• Farm: Zarza

• Importer: Cata Export

• Price (green ex Shipping): £13.50 pkg

• Variety: Pink Bourbon

• Process: Thermal Shock Washed

• Altitude: 1500-1600 masl

• Amount Bought: 138kg

• Tasting: Floral, Elegant, Fruity, Complex, Juicy

• Flavours like: Strawberry Jam, Green Apple, Vanilla,