New release, coming soon

Tasting Like: Strawberry Mallows, Layered Florality, Complex Florality, Sweet Moscato, Riesling Body, Brown Butter Maple Syrup On Chocolate Waffles, Praeline, Classic Sudan Rume Rich Complexity 

Farm: Finca Milán
Producers: Julio Madrid
Variety: Sudan Rume
Process: Aerobic Fermentation
Origin: Risaralda, Colombia
Altitude: 1800masl

Note: Sudan Rume's have become one of the most in demand varietals in the last 5 years with them being priced beyond most modern Geshas due to their low harvest frequency + difficulty to grow

Do you remember your first Sudan Rume? If you have tried it, you likely do. I had my first ever Sudan Rume years ago from a nordic roaster and it's iconic complexity FLOORED me. Your experience was likely (hopefully) similar to mine. The Sudan Rume varietal is notoriously difficult to grow and it yields only so many cherries per tree that the difficulty to procure, nurture and protect outweighs any results. The best way to put it is this: crops like the Sudan Rume is akin to owning a ferrari - the upkeep and insurance is insane, leaving most to opt for an easier supercar that makes for guiltless driving. But let's face it, that ferrari red is forever enticingly iconic and those who can stomach the efforts of ownership get to partake in the sweet italian reward that is raw exhaust vocals dialed in across generations. It's exclusivity at its best. That's the Sudan Rume varietal. The farmers who can handle the extra efforts on top of the already extremely demanding tasks of growing multiple varieties get to experience the reward of their efforts through a crop that is more akin to a Raphael painting in their cups than a mere liquid. This Sudan Rume holds that renaissance level complexity and nuance that Raphael's strokes are beloved for. We're talking layers of flavors, not just notes or markers, "journeys" if you want to get real marketing-y. This particular lot comes from the hands of Mr Julio Cesar Madrid Tisnés, a third-generation coffee producer who's made it on the offer lists of dozens of premier roasters and our own dozens of times. His life's work to cultivate the impossible varietals that most farmers wouldn't dare attempt enables us as patrons and enthusiasts to be spoiled with a supercar coffee. 

Julio owns two main farms with his processing expert, Andres, and his daughter Maria (who's mostly responsible for developing their more recent innovative fermentation protocols). They have been been cultivating their Sudan Rume for over a decade, mastering the precise care the temperamental variety demands. Sudan Rume traces its genetics directly to the wild raw coffee forests of the Boma Plateau in South Sudan, discovered in the 1940's near the Ethiopian border in what's considered the birthplace of Coffea Arabica. This pure heirloom variety dates back before both Bourbon and Typica, making it one of the most genetically intact representations of wild coffee still in modern cultivation today. The variety is characterized by copper-colored leaves, elongated cherries, and an extremely low yield that makes commercial cultivation nearly impossible - yet its extraordinary cup quality has made it legendary among coffee professionals, serving as the parent variety for the recently famous SL-28. Julio's + Andre's aerobic fermentation approach allows this lot to develop its signature complexity through controlled exposure to oxygen during processing, highlighting the variety's inherent tea-like qualities and layered florality while maintaining the clean, bright characteristics that make Sudan Rume so distinctively different from typical lux Colombian coffees. The result is a coffee that tastes like a unique blend of Ethiopian and Yemeni coffees. It's sweet and fruity with a super complex ancient world depth making us wish we could time travel back to OG coffee harvest days before boxes and biodegradable bags. But as far as time traveling goes, this Sudan Rume is as close as possible to the real thing - thank you Julio. 

A bonus note on terroir: 

Risaralda is one of the crown jewel's of the Colombia Coffee Triangle and a UNESCO World Heritage region recognized not just for its exceptional coffee but for its sustainable agricultural practices. Located in the central cordillera of the Andes between 1300-2100 meters elevation, Risaralda benefits from young volcanic soils rich in igneous rock and volcanic ash that create ideal conditions for cultivating rare varieties like Sudan Rume - basically Panama but in Colombia. The region also experiences stark temperature differences between day and night effectively slowing cherry development and concentrating natural flavor compounds. The area hosts over twenty thousand small coffee farms representing a shared mindset of quality over quantity. More storied producers like Madrid are leading a movement in cultivating ultra-rare varietals that command premium prices in European markets. Often you'll see coffees releasing at fifty euros per half pound for exceptional Sudan Rume lots and geishas. This is exactly the kind of terroir-driven, small-batch coffee production that defines tomorrow's specialty landscape and our coffee sourcing practices. Coffee rooted in volcanic soil and traditional knowledge for some well grown crop, but then dedicated to pushing the absolute limits of what that baseline can become.

Recommended Music to accompany brewing: Drum N Bass by J.Cole
Includes QR code to applicable Tasting Guide™