Colombia
Finca La Piragua

Alexander and Lidia started their coffee farm from scratch around 20 years ago. This washed Caturra lot has hints of plum, blackcurrant and malt.

Washed process Caturra

Flavour: plum, blackcurrant and malt

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

Alexander and Lidia started their coffee farm from scratch around 20 years ago. This washed Caturra lot has hints of plum, blackcurrant and malt.

Coffee has always played a significant part in Alexander Vargas’ life—he comes from a coffee-growing family. Around the 2000s, he decided to start producing coffee on his own. He found a piece of land with no more than a few weeds, gave it a good clean and planted the first coffee trees. It’s not common to see young farms built relatively recently from scratch like these.

Finca La Piragua extends through 10 hectares of land, 7 of which produce coffee. The rest are dedicated to pitaya (or dragon fruit), in an effort to diversify the crop. Alexander works together with his wife, Lidia. He takes care of the harvesting, and they both work through the fermentation and drying processes.

Their move into specialty coffee production started around 2006 as a way to add value to their product and find recognition for their hard work. To achieve this, Alexander joined a group called Café Quebradón, where he gained much knowledge and experience that then applied to Finca La Piragua. This learning is always ongoing, and he is currently working on improving his processes and infrastructure to elevate the quality of his beans.

This lot is a Caturra varietal that has grown in a sun-rich plot of land. The fermentation method is a traditional washed process: fermented in water for 24 hours, then dried on raised beds in covered patios.

Certifications: Fairtrade, C.A.F.E. Practices.

All the images and information about this coffee and producers have been kindly shared by its importer, Caravela Coffee, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise).

Sourcing and ingredients

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

Green coffee certified Fairtrade.

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.

1:16.7
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

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

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

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Producer: Alexander Vargas & Lidia Majin
Country: Colombia
Region: Huila
Altitude: 1870m above sea level
Varietals: Caturra
Process: washed
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Plum, blackcurrant and malt
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Varietals

Caturra varietal

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon that was originally discovered in Brazil in 1937, considered to be the first naturally occurring mutation ever discovered.

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.

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.