Colombia — Santa Maria Smallholder Producers Caturra, Pink Bourbon, Castillo & Colombia (Decaf, Ethyl Acetate Sugarcane Process)

Tastes Like — 🍬 Caramel • 🍎 Baked Apple • 🍎 Red Apple

DETAILS

• Producer: Santa Maria Smallholder Producers (~25 farmers)
• Region: Huila, Colombia
• Varietal: Caturra, Pink Bourbon, Castillo & Colombia
• Process: Decaffeinated (Ethyl Acetate / Sugarcane Process)
• Elevation: 1,700–2,100 masl
• Harvest: 2025

INTRO From around 25 smallholder producers in Santa Maria, Huila, near the Nevado del Huila volcano — a community group lot of four southern Colombian varieties, decaffeinated using the gentle Ethyl Acetate sugarcane process. Caramel and baked apple open the aroma, carrying soft, syrupy sweetness, with red apple lingering through a gentle acidity into a clean finish. In the cup: caramel, baked apple, and red apple.

THE PRODUCER Santa Maria is a coffee-growing community in northern Huila, where around 25 smallholder producers each contribute small parcels of Caturra, Pink Bourbon, Castillo, and Colombia varieties. Farmers deliver cherries to a regional buying station, where lots are cupped and selected before being combined into a single group lot. Huila's volcanic soils and cool highland climate give the region's coffee a reputation for balanced sweetness and bright, clean acidity, and Santa Maria has become known for producing some of the department's most consistent, approachable coffee.

Caturra, a compact mutation of Bourbon, is prized for productivity and a balanced cup. Pink Bourbon, a rare and unstable hybrid, brings vibrant acidity and delicate sweetness when it performs well. Castillo, developed by Cenicafé for leaf rust resistance, anchors the blend with a reliable, clean profile, while the Colombia variety — itself a rust-resistant Cenicafé release descended from Caturra and Timor Hybrid — contributes body and consistency.

THE PROCESS This lot uses the Ethyl Acetate (Sugarcane) process — green coffee is steamed to open its pores, then washed repeatedly with an ethyl acetate solution derived from fermented sugarcane molasses until caffeine is drawn out. The beans are steamed again to remove residue, then dried and polished before export. Because ethyl acetate occurs naturally in fruit and comes from a plant source, this method is often labelled a natural decaffeination process, avoiding the high heat and pressure of other techniques.

Avoiding high heat and pressure is the defining advantage here — it's what preserves the sweetness and clarity behind the caramel and baked apple character that define this cup, despite the coffee being fully decaffeinated.

THE CUP Sweet, round, and dependably clean — caramel and baked apple open the aroma with soft, syrupy sweetness, while red apple lingers through a gentle acidity into a clean finish.

Flavour Notes 🍬 Caramel 🍎 Baked Apple 🍎 Red Apple