Available now - Colombian Huila Pitalito

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Its that time again…….time to introduce Fratello’s newest Single Origin coffee. This time it is a very impressive Colombian, one that is going to make Colombian coffee “Specialty Coffee” again. You have to try this as it is truly an amazing cup.

Fratello’s NEW Crop arrival, is the Colombian Huila (wheel-a) Pitalito (pit-a-lee-toe). It is a notably clean cup with sweet orange and butter vanilla aromas. The flavor notes of maple and caramel linger along with a bright green apple acidity. This coffee gave a cupping score of 88.5 !!

Pitalito is a small micro climate with in Huila, and is situated in the center of a rich plateau at 1,350 meters above sea level, and coffee is grown as high as 1,500 meters. This particular coffee was purchased through the ASOPROCAPI Cooperative.

The ASOPROCAPI cooperative works with 196 families and 205 coffee farms. They are very well known as a specialized cooperative who only works with select coffee growers, and is very particular with their cleaning, sorting and grading methods.

We have been trying to find a specific farm/Estate to work with, but Colombia is known for its very small producers, and large cooperatives (similar to Ethiopia and Kenya). The Pitalito coffee we chose is 91% Caturra and 7% Tipica varietals. It is a fully washed coffee, which works best when dealing with very high altitude coffees, as both produce clean crisp flavors.

ASOPROCAPI is currently working to implement cleaner production, promoting among its members program aiming to:

1) Construction and repair of existing fermentation tanks.

2) Promoting the correct disposal and/or composting of solids from process.

3) Construction of filters and separators to treat water coming out of the tradional wet (washed) process.

AOPROCAPI growers relay in solar energy to dry coffee and each grower dries on his/her own farms. Drying takes place immediately after the wet process is concluded and the drying facilites consist of a raised wooden platfrom, fitted with a protective clear plastic at the top and a plastic floor that allows air through it by way of pores.

New Colombian Coffee cupping methods at Origin:

The Colombian Coffee Federation is taking great steps to improve Colombian coffee’s quality and presception in the market place. At the Speciality Coffee Association of America I was discussing this project with Volcafe who will be coaching the Colombian Cuppers how to re-callibrate their cupping techniques. The main thing they are going to change, is that they are going to begin cupping for different and unique profiles available in Colombian, instead of simply cupping for defects in the cup. These are two very different skills, and both equally important. Watch for very exciting coffees coming out of this region.