Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia (Finca Monteblanco)

Description

Tastes Like: Kumquat, Lucky Candy, Fruit Tart

Origin: Finca Monteblanco, Huila, Colombia

Variety: Purple Caturra

Producer: Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia

Elevation: 1,730 masl

Process: Kumquat Co-Ferment Washed

Farm and Producer

Finca Monteblanco, located high along the winding mountain roads of Vereda La Tocora in the San Adolfo municipality above Pitalito, is a family farm managed by Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia in the tradition of coffee cultivation that began with his grandfather. Monteblanco’s 18 hectares sit on the crest of a hill, with the wet mill and drying facilities at the top of the farm and slopes of coffee planted below. In 2002 Rodrigo participated in a local program teaching local children of coffee producers to cup. Before that, he and his family had never considered coffee in terms of cup profile. By learning to differentiate profiles, he and his father and grandfather were able to make the connections between the farming techniques they applied and coffee’s resulting attributes in the cup.

At this time, Rodrigo also began to learn about cupping competitions that evaluate the best lots from farms in a region. He noticed that farms would win one year and then never again, so he decided to investigate how to produce quality coffee consistently. This led him to explore the trees planted on Monteblanco, where he discovered various varieties his grandfather had planted in the 1980’s. One of these varieties is Purple Caturra, a type of Caturra whose cherries ripen to a deep purple color.

Variety

Purple Caturra is Monteblanco’s name for a Caturra selection whose cherries mature to a deep purple color. Rodrigo identified it among older family plantings and selected it for its high cherry sugar content. Caturra itself is a compact mutation of Bourbon.

Processing

A culture of yeasts and lactic acid bacteria is fed with kumquat, orange juice and a sweetener such as panela or molasses. It develops for approximately 190 hours before being combined with the coffee.

After flotation and depulping, the coffee ferments with the prepared culture for 180 hours in sealed tanks. Sugar content and pH are monitored throughout. Drying starts with two to three days in sun, followed by 15 to 18 days under shade until the coffee reaches 10–11% moisture.

Text from Hydrangea Coffee Roasters' listing.