Dear coffee subscriber,
This month I have selected 3 different coffees for you from Elias Roa and Bellanid Sanchez at Finca Tamana in Colombia.
As you may know I have a very close relationship with them and stay at their farm around two months per year when I work on my own farm, Finca el Suelo, which is next doors.
Since 2012 we have spent a lot of time together in order to perfect the quality of their coffees and I am very pleased to say that the 2022 harvest was outstanding in quality. I believe the coffees from Finca Tamana have never tasted better and although many of you might have tasted these coffees before, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the flavour intensity and sweetness of the 2022 harvest. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I am. Below you can read a bit more about the coffees we are sending out. Make sure to also watch our subscription tasting video on YouTube.
Finca Tamana – Variedad Colombia (1st and 4th bag)
Flavour notes: Caramel, herbal & red fruits
Producer: Elias Roa & Bellanid Sanchez
Harvest: June – July 2022
Origin: El Pital, Huila, Colombia
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Variedad Colombia
Finca Tamana – Caturra (2nd & 5th bag)
Flavour notes: Sweet chocolate, caramel & red fruits
Producer: Elias Roa & Bellanid Sanchez
Harvest: June – July 2022
Origin: El Pital, Huila, Colombia
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Caturra
When Elias Roa bought Finca Tamana in 2011 most of the farm was planted with the two cultivars Caturra and Variedad Colombia. Since then the Caturra trees have been attacked by leaf rust almost every year and the quality and production has therefore been a bit up and down. The Variedad Colombia is resistant to leaf rust and has consistently been tasting better compared to the Caturra over the years. That is why we have recommended Elias to replant most of his Caturra trees with either resistant hybrid cultivars or better tasting traditional cultivars like Bourbon and SL28.
There are still some Caturra left on the farm and probably always will be, but since the production is very small and the flavour is very similar to the Variedad Colombia we are normally blending the two based on harvest date and quality. Last harvest however was in general a very good season at Finca Tamana and we found that there were several productions of Caturra lots that tasted really good and unique. It made up enough volume so that it made sense to separate them from the Variedad Colombia.
Although the flavour profiles of these two different cultivars are very similar (after all the Caturra cultivar was used in the development of the Variedad Colombia hybrid, ) there are still subtle differences in these two coffees. I personally find the Variedad Colombia to be slightly more herbal with fruity and caramel notes and the Caturra to be slighlty more fruity and chocolaty. Both coffees are really sweet and clean which is the result of the thorough processing and drying techniques we have developed together with Elias and Bellanid over the years.
Finca Tamana – Bourbon (3rd or 6th bag)
Flavour notes: Winey, red fruits, black tea & floral
Producer: Elias Roa & Bellanid Sanchez
Harvest: June – July 2022
Origin: El Pital, Huila, Colombia
Process: Washed
Cultivar: Pink & red Bourbon
This is the fourth harvest we have of the red and pink Bourbon cultivars from Finca Tamana. I managed to get some seeds from a really nice red Bourbon in 2014 that I gave to Elias and Bellanid. We planted these seeds together in June 2014 and the trees were planted in a small hill at Finca Tamana in August 2015. At the same time Elias had gotten a handfull of seeds from a neighbour of some pink Bourbon. The difference is the red and pink colour of the coffee cherries when they are ripe but they also taste slightly different in the cup where the pink one is slightly more floral and the red one is slightly more fruity.
I am very happy that so far it is one of the best coffees we have tasted from Tamana. In fact Bourbon are among my all time favourite coffee cultivars but they need to be grown in good conditions to taste great. Fortunately Tamana seems to be a place where Elias and Bellanid can produce really tasty Bourbon coffees. This year we managed to buy 300kg of this beautiful coffee which will be shared exclusively with our subscribers.