Helm Coffee Roasters - Marlon Bolaños Washed Bourbon Aji | Colombia

Colombia — Marlon Bolaños Three Coffee Farmers Bourbon Aji (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🌸 Pink Florals • 🍋 Lemonade • 🍍 Pineapple • 🫐 Blackberry

DETAILS

• Producer: Marlon Bolaños
• Farm: Three Coffee Farmers
• Region: Huila, Colombia
• Varietal: Bourbon Aji
• Process: Washed
• Elevation: 1,670 masl

INTRO
Pink florals explode off the aroma and carry into the first sip. Behind them, lemonade opens the cup, sweet and tart at once. Pineapple builds through the middle, ripe and tropical, and as the cup cools, fresh-picked blackberry settles underneath — lightly tart, deeply sweet, giving the finish its weight. Juicy and silky, with bright acidity and sweetness that builds the longer the cup sits. In the cup: pink florals, lemonade, pineapple, and blackberry.

THE PRODUCER
Marlon Bolaños farms in Huila with his brothers Pedro and Hemerson, under the name "The Three Coffee Farmers." He grew up on the family's land but came to coffee seriously at seventeen, through SENA, Colombia's vocational training system, studying brewing, green grading, and sensory analysis before going home to plant specialty varieties and run his own fermentations. He now handles quality control, fermentation protocols, and sampling, while his brothers run the rest of the farm. He also competes, having won several barista and brewing competitions using spring water from the family land that locals call Champion's Water. This is the first coffee bought from him.

Ají is Spanish for chili pepper, and the variety takes its name from the cherry, which is long and tapers to a point. Growers in Huila called it a Bourbon and the name stuck; genetic testing has since placed it in the Ethiopian landrace family, reaching the wider market through Colombia's Cup of Excellence. The variety is known for floral aromatics and a high, fruit-driven acidity, asking for elevation and long ripening to give them up — exactly what Huila provides, with cold nights and long, even ripening that builds sugar while the fruit waits.

THE PROCESS
Cherry is picked at peak ripeness and floated to pull out anything low in density, then depulped the same day. The parchment ferments in open tanks for 24 hours, long enough for the mucilage to break down and wash away cleanly, then is washed and dried over 10-15 days.

This is standard washed practice carefully run, and that's the intention — the variety and the elevation are what reach the cup. The long, even ripening Huila provides is the defining factor here, building the floral aromatics and fruit-driven acidity behind the pink floral and blackberry character that define this cup.

THE CUP
Juicy and silky — pink florals lead, with sweet-tart lemonade opening the cup and ripe pineapple building through the middle. Fresh blackberry settles underneath as it cools, giving the finish its weight. Bright acidity throughout, with sweetness that builds the longer it sits.

Flavour Notes
🌸 Pink Florals 🍋 Lemonade 🍍 Pineapple 🫐 Blackberry