Colombia
Marco Fidel Rodriguez
Pink Bourbon

Washed process Caturra

Flavour: peach, strawberry and black tea

Body: Acidity:

Marco Fidel Rodriguez (lovingly dubbed MFR by our Sample bar crew) has been on our shelves numerous times—the first one going back to 2015. This lot is a washed process Pink Bourbon varietal, not too far off his top-rating X Grade (featured as part of our Brew Crew VS).

Finca El Balcon has breathtaking views of Pitalito and the Laboyos Valley on one side and views of lakes and waterfalls on the other. It was the property of Marco Fidel’s father, who introduced him to the craft of coffee from very early on. He is now 45 years old, and he has spent the last 14 focusing on specialty coffee.

Marco Fidel’s experience with Pink Bourbon goes back to 7 years, when he planted the first trees of this varietal; after achieving good results, he went for a second batch and now this varietal makes 20% of his production (with the remainder being Caturra).

While Pink Bourbon brings some charming premiums and rewards, its harvest can be quite challenging. The fruits can over-ripen very quickly compared to other varietals, so workers need maximum attention, experience and focus when picking the cherries. In addition, the trees’ yield is not very high compared to others—but fortunately, they enjoy a high resilience against leaf rust.

Marco Fidel works with his wife, Ruth, and his 2 sons on the farm. He takes care of his coffee trees and is in charge of managing the workers. The post-harvest process is carried out by the whole family. Ruth also manages another project, growing a number of different plants and flowers for consumption and decoration, and it would be well worth the visit just to see this. Just like Reuben did back in 2015!

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Certifications: UTZ, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade, PECA

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 Rainforest Alliance and 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: Marco Fidel Rodriguez
Country: Colombia
Region: Filo De Chillurco, Huila
Varietals: Caturra
Process: washed
Body: Medium
Acidity: Medium
Tasting notes: Peach, strawberry and black tea
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.