Tasting Like: Fruit Loops Cereal, Lemongrass Cocktail, Fruit Tart, Silky Gesha Florals

Farm: Small Producers Collective 
Producer: Mixed
Variety: Gesha
Process: Special Preparation Washed
Origin: Huila, Colombia
Altitude: 1700masl

Saturday morning grass cutting and Fruit Loops - a combination that defined countless childhoods, mine especially. There's something magical about that artificial sweetness, the way the colorful then soggy loops would turn milk into liquid grey rainbow. Skipping to today, and here I am during our first cupping session with this lot, genuinely surprised at how this gesha manages to capture this nostalgia while maintaining all the elegance you'd expect from a 90+ scoring Colombian. When I first heard about this lot making rounds through my sourcing partners, they made me aware of this lot. Knowing my personal affinity for these types of coffees as, they love to quoted me "coffee that makes you feel something", they knew I would want it. What I didn't anticipate was how sophisticated this coffee would be underneath all it's childlike character. It's nostalgic and refined simultaneously - delivering childhood memories through some of the most pristine gesha florals I've cupped this harvest. This is exactly what we mean when we talk about the coffee of tomorrow: familiar and innovative, accessible and still complex.

The magic here lies in Huila's famous terroir combined with meticulous washed processing from a collective of 17 different producers across the areas of Pitalito, Palestina, Acevedo, and Timana. These aren't large farms; we're talking about little family plots ranging from 1 to 2 hectares where coffee knowledge gets passed down like stories through generations. For this offering, it's gesha cherries are hand-picked at peak ripeness, immediately de-pulped, then fermented in cement tanks for up to forty hours before receiving a double wash. What makes this lot particularly special is the extended drying process in parabolic greenhouses - a delicate technique prolonging drying from a typical ten days to twelve to twenty days depending on their greenhouse conditions. This controlled environment preserves the vibrant fruit and floral characteristics that make this gesha such an extraordinary cup while developing the unique cereal-like sweetness this coffee holds. In our cups we experience a cup that balances the classic bright florals and citrus of high scoring gesha with an almost candy-like sweetness that somehow tastes exactly like your favorite childhood breakfast (or midnight snack if you're like me).

A bit more about Huila: Huila isn't just Colombia's top coffee-producing department - it's home to nearly 100,000 family farms covering over 350,000 acres of some of the most privileged coffee-growing conditions on earth. Positioned where the Central and Eastern Andes converge, this volcanic landscape provides incredibly fertile soils rich in organic matter, optimal water availability, and the perfect balance of temperature and solar radiation for cultivating exceptional arabica. What sets Huila producers apart is their pioneering spirit when it comes to processing innovation and quality consciousness. These farmers were among the first to embrace new fermentation techniques and experimental processing methods, which is why we consistently see Cup of Excellence winners emerging from this region. The department represents 18% of Colombian production, and coffees from here are always in high demand for their remarkable balance of acidity and sweetness. When we source from Huila, we know we're getting coffee from farmers who treat every harvest as an opportunity for excellence - exactly the kind of forward-thinking approach that defines the coffee of tomorrow.