Cesar Buesaquillo, our latest exotic coffee release
Our first exotic coffee release for the year is a natural process Pink Bourbon, cultivated by Cesar Buesaquillo on his 6-hectare farm La Esmeralda in Quindío, Colombia. We're always excited to release a new coffee, but having an opportunity to share an exotic coffee is significant to us, encapsulating what we do here at Embassy.
Cesar has spent his whole life around coffee, which runs in his family; his parents worked as coffee pickers, then farm managers on a variety of coffee farms. Cesar used to visit his parents on these farms and fell in love with coffee during these trips. 20 years ago, Cesar’s parents purchased La Esmerelda, which he now owns and operates along with his wife Maria and son Kevin.
Cesar’s mission for his farm was to move away from his family’s history working with commodity-grade coffee - the first years he was producing coffee came with challenges whilst he made these changes. Wanting to adopt specialty coffee practices and focus on cultivating unique varieties of coffee, Cesar changed his approach to coffee farming; he has received advice and technical assistance from the Cofinet team in Colombia, who he has formed a close bond with, and is now constantly experimenting with processing methods. Cesar believes quality should be the focus of coffee farming going forward. Cesar now grows varieties such as Pink Bourbon and Gesha, and grows other crops such as plantain, banana, and avocado.
Exotic coffees are usually rare and interesting coffee varieties, often using alternative processing methods. They are grown with great care and expertise in small quantities, by producers who strive to push the boundaries of what it means to grow better coffee, and as a result score very highly.
We believe supporting farmers like Cesar is critical to sustainability in coffee. Offering exotic coffees from these skilled and passionate farmers and ensuring they're paid a fair price for their hard work is an important part of our mission.
We're happy to be sharing this special coffee with you, and we hope to bring you more of Cesar's coffees in the future. The pink bourbon variety is well-known for clarity and complex, nuanced flavour profiles; in this particular coffee we find flavours of juicy nectarine, panela, and floral jasmine notes.
The pink bourbon variety is currently under research in order to determine its origin. It is said that it is a mutation that took place at 2100 m.a.s.l in San Adolfo, Huila. Genetic testing has shown that Pink Bourbon likely has its roots in an Ethiopian landrace variety.
Available online here, or if you're local, come grab a bag from the shelf at Cellar Door, and we'll be enjoying it on batch brew this Friday too!
Thanks to Cofinet for the opportunity to share this fantastic coffee, and also to share the story of Cesar Buesaquillo. The video below is from Cofinet, an interview with Cesar.
