Colombia Finca La Montañita: Sample Coffee Roasters

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.

Body Acidity

Roasted omni for filter and 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.

Sourcing and ingredients

100% Pink Bourbon coffee beans, provided by Caravela and roasted by us on Gadigal land / Sydney.

Country grade: Unknown ?

Packaging

Bag: ABA Certified home compostable
Label: Recyclable
Valve (on bags larger than 250g): General waste
Coffee ordered online is shipped in a recyclable cardboard box

Brewing this coffee

We recommend brewing this coffee 15–49 days post-roast. If pre-ground, brew as soon as possible. Our advice on storing coffee.

1:3
dose:yield
ratio

To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.

g dose

g yield

View the how to brew espresso (single origin) guide.

1:16
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

You may need to grind more fine than our typical single origin. View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:14.3
beans:water
ratio

To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

You may need to grind more fine than our typical single origin. View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:12
beans:water
ratio

To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

You may need to grind more fine than our typical single origin. View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Producer: Willyan Rojas
Country: Colombia
Region: Pitalito, Huila
Altitude: 1680m above sea level
Varietals: Pink Bourbon
Process: 36 Hour Fermentation
Harvested: May 2021
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Yellow peach, passionfruit, lime
Roast style: Omni

Varietals

Pink Bourbon varietal

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.