Picture yourself in the middle of lush green coffee mountains, standing in front of Doña Carmen’s farm in Urrao, Antioquia. The scent of nature fills the air as she shares with you the story of Caturra Chiroso or simply “Chiroso” as it’s known these days: that was us the last time we visited her.
It all started in 2014 when Doña Carmen won the Cup of Excellence with this exquisite variety. Despite its amazing taste, Chiroso didn’t become as popular at that moment as its counterpart, Pink Bourbon, from Huila.
So if Chiroso won the COE in 2014, why are we just hearing about this variety now when Pink Bourbon was discovered afterwards? Our theory is that Huila is more famous for specialty coffee, which makes it easier for them to access markets. Antioquia on the other hand, is generally known for larger farms producing “volume coffee”. When Pink Bourbon hit the scene, producers lined for seeds knowing they’d find a buyer. However, this doesn’t mean that Chiroso is any less delicious. In fact, Chiroso offers the same cup quality, it just remained unknown at the time!
We were left wondering, “how did this Chiroso end up in Urrao?” So, we asked Doña Carmen to spill the beans (pun intended).
A small but significant step in reporting on our sustainable practices and the positive impact we have always aimed to achieve.