"Upon grinding, a juicy burst of watermelon and sweet melon rises from the cup, layered with a soft fruity aroma. On the palate, melon, caramel sweetness and gentle nutty tones bring depth and roundness, while a touch of spice adds subtle warmth. The finish is smooth, sweet, and lingering with a balanced complexity."

La Cumparsita is a young coffee project founded in 2022 under the direction of Sebastián, an agronomist who returned to his family’s coffee roots and became the first generation to formally rebuild coffee production as a focused life project. His grandparents produced coffee until 1980, when they sold their farms and the family moved their energy into other work; none of their sons continued the tradition until Sebastián chose to come back with a technical, specialty-driven approach. The farm operates with a clear emphasis on process control and repeatability, using his agronomy background to shape fermentation protocols rather than relying on improvised methods. Since mid-2022, the team has also been experimenting with carbonic-style approaches and fruit-assisted fermentations as part of a wider quality program.

Set in Colombia’s Caldas department around the municipality of Chinchiná, La Cumparsita sits at high elevation, with sources placing it roughly in the 1,600–2,000 masl band depending on the specific lot and measurement point. This altitude, paired with cool mountain conditions, supports slower cherry maturation and helps preserve clarity through fermentation—an important foundation when the goal is to layer fruit character without losing structure. The project is small by design, with an estimated total area around 5 hectares and a tight production focus that prioritizes specialty separation over volume. Harvesting appears to be managed across multiple windows through the year (commonly including April–June and October–December), aligning picking with peak ripeness rather than a single compressed cycle.

This lot is Pink Bourbon, locally associated with the “Bourbon Rosado” naming you’ll often see in Colombia. As a variety, Pink Bourbon has become a standout in modern Colombian specialty coffee for its naturally expressive aromatic range and its ability to carry bright fruit tones while still keeping a tidy, elegant structure in the cup. It is frequently recognized for a layered, floral-leaning profile alongside tropical or melon-like impressions when grown at elevation and handled with clean fermentation. In this context, Pink Bourbon is chosen not just for intensity, but because it can stay transparent even when fermentation inputs are introduced.

For “Watermelon,” the processing is declared as a semi-washed lot fermented for 38 hours with dehydrated watermelon, using a controlled fruit-assisted fermentation step to guide a specific aromatic direction. After fermentation, the semi-washed approach is used to remove mucilage in a way that keeps the profile crisp and avoids heavy, winey textures, helping the watermelon character present as clean and precise rather than loud or perfumed. The intent is a fruit-forward expression that still reads as coffee first—sweetness, clarity, and a structured finish—rather than a flavored product.

Variety : Pink Bourbon
Altitude : 2000 masl
Process : Semi-washed; fermented 38 hours with dehydrated watermelon
Origin : Chinchina