Colombia
Finca La Montañita

Finca La Montañita is Willyan Rojas’ lifetime project. It’s a 8-hectare farm located in Pitalito, Huila. Coming from a family of farmers, Willyan always knew that coffee would be his craft. However, his ambitions went further: he wanted his coffee to be recognised internationally and become a medium to connect with people internationally.

36 hour fermentation process Pink Bourbon

Flavour: yellow peach, passionfruit, lime

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

This Pink Bourbon from Finca La Montañita is an example of how the process can impact the final product. A relatively common varietal processed through a traditional method results in an excellent fruity and bright cup.

VERY SPECIAL

We’ve chosen this coffee for our second VS subscription dispatch for a few reasons.

First, it comes from Colombia—our other favourite origin, together with Ethiopia.

Second, of course, its outstanding flavours and mouthfeel. It’s super fruity (think passion fruit and apricot), and it has a bright acidity. Not too far from some Geishas.

And third, its path to a high-quality cup is entirely different to our previous VS feature, Jabanto Carbonic Maceration. While the Ethiopian featured a contemporary, high-tech fermentation style, this Colombian follows a traditional method, done well.

ABOUT WILLYAN ROJAS, THE PRODUCER

Willyan comes from a family of coffee farmers. He set up his own farm, Finca La Montañita (Pitalito, Huila), in the mid-90s, but it wasn’t until the late 2000s that he started producing specialty coffee. This move away from commodity coffee would provide his family with higher premiums and establish his purpose: to get his coffee recognised internationally, allowing him to connect with people all around the globe.

This successful transition didn’t happen all of a sudden. Willyan put the work into research and development, travelling to other farms in the Colombian Coffee Axis region and joining programs like PECA, an education plan from Caravela Coffee (the importer for this coffee).

This step-up in level of care—from harvest to process—truly translates into the final product. That’s why it is one of our VS.

THE VARIETAL AND THE PROCESS

This lot’s varietal is Pink Bourbon, a hybrid between Yellow and Red Bourbon believed to be a naturally-occurring mutation in the Huila area of Colombia. When the cherry is ripe and ready to pick, the colour is in the light red or ‘pinky’ spectrum.

The process is a traditional fully washed, left fermenting in water for 36 hours and dried in covered parabolic patios for about 7 days (depending on the weather).

With all this extra info about what it took to produce this coffee, it’s time to enjoy it.

You’ll find brewing recipes from the team down below shortly. But don’t be shy and start with your favourite method! If you’ve got any questions, we’re always happy to respond to your emails or messages via Instagram @samplecoffee.

We look forward to hearing about your experience.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: Willyan Rojas
Country: Colombia
Region: Pitalito, Huila
Altitude: 1680m above sea level
Variety: Pink Bourbon
Process: 36 hour fermentation
Harvested: May 2021
Importer: Caravela
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Yellow peach, passionfruit, lime
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Variety

Pink Bourbon variety

Pink Bourbon is an Ethiopian Heirloom variety (or subvariety)—though, until very recently (~2023), it was thought to be a rare and spontaneous hybrid/mutation of Red and Yellow Bourbon.

The location

Coffee from Colombia

Colombia is one of the largest coffee producers in the world and benefits greatly from having one of the most unique and complex set of micro-climates of all coffee producing nations.

The Huila region of Colombia

This region boasts the perfect combination of high quality soil and geography and is quickly becoming one of the largest coffee producing regions in Colombia. One of the best regarded regions for high quality, fruit driven coffee.