The Coffee Quest’s Pitalito Station in Huila

Each micro lot and communal lot is carefully constructed. Every small lot individually cupped various times before being included within the main lot. In addition to cup quality, each coffee must meet strict physical requirements, including our guidelines for moisture content and water activity. The first time a lot is cupped is when the producer brings a sample to our buying station. After approval the producer will then bring the lot down to the warehouse where it will be cupped again, taking a sample from each sack to ensure consistency. After final approval, the parchment coffee is packed in Grainpro bags and remains untouched until the entire lot is milled in Medellín. 

Las Perlitas: Throughout the harvest, it’s quite common that small-holders produce lots that aren’t large enough to be exported on their own. However, the quality is often just as good (or better) than samples received from larger lots. As such, we decided to buy all coffees, regardless of size and create a specialty blend based on cup profile, with a quality that would compare to a Micro lot. The result is Las Perlitas or  “The Little Pearls”, various small lots from producers around the Huila region, whose farms range in elevation from 1,600 to 2.100 m.a.s.l. and grow quality varieties.

You might already know that Colombia has a high humid climate which will make it very difficult to produce Naturals or Honey Coffee. The only way to get the same fruity flavours and resemblance of Naturals is to play with fermentation before washing. So, the variation in fruity flavours across the lots will depend on the different attributes that contribute to the fermentation process: such as the environment temperature, capacity of the farm, and farmer’s techniques. This is why there is no single answer to drying and fermentation. The hours spent in the tanks and on the drying tables will most likely be longer than commercial coffee, but will differ per farmer as cultural practices and logistical issues play a role. On average, fermentation in tanks goes around 24-48h (sometimes up to 72h) and drying time around 7-14 days. 

Micro lot: To select the best Micro lots we focus on 86+ lots that have a special characteristic in the cup profile. The Pitalito area offers a good range of fruity lots due to the longer fermentation times. In some cases we combine the volume from 2 or 3 farmers together to reach a minimum of 10x 35kg bags of exportable green coffee. The combinations are made by taking the cup profile into account, and will carry the name of the largest contributor. This method allows us to provide a steady volume for our Seasonal segment, with interesting cup profiles that variate in between each harvest.

Laboyano – Type 1 (85 score): “Laboyano” is how you would call a local from Pitaltio. This name reflects the typical hard working farmers that are part of this communal lot. The coffee is fully traceable and comprised primarily of lots from producers in and around the South of Huila, including Pitalito, Saladoblanco, Palestina, Acevedo and La Argentina. The producers who contributed to this lot grow Caturra, Colombia, Castillo, Tabi and Pink Bourbon, with farms sitting at a range of elevations between 1,600 and 2,000 meters. This coffee was constructed in partnership with our friends The Bean Project, whom we expect to do exciting things with in the future! 

Pitalito – Type 2 (84 score): This lot is the little sister from Laboyano, and provides similar fruity notes, but with less complexity. The touch of dried fruits and vibrant milk chocolate are quite pleasant. Each individual lot that ends up in the group lot Type Pitalito has been cup and added to the lot based on the determined cup profile. Multifunctional use for both blends and single-origin coffees, 

Huila Profile – Type 3 (83 score): The cup profile is similar to a good Huila Excelso EP, however, similar to Type 2 the quality can be offered with great consistency. Each producer will have the chance to sell this coffee to competing buying stations, but will receive a small bonus on top of the market price at The Coffee Quest’s Santa Maria station. The bonus represents our combined efforts in maintaining full traceability and quality control.