Colombia Huila Pink Bourbon Honey

Colombia is making great strides in traceability, quality, and responsible farming. This honey process microlot came from the Huila region grown at  Los Cristales by farmer Yoher Bustos. Pink Bourbon bushes don't produce much and don't live very long. It's hard to know when to harvest because the fruit is pink when it's ripe. With other coffees, pink means unripe. If you wait for this one to turn red it spoils. 

Pink Bourbon coffee tastes magical. Not like coffee. It changes every way I brew it, but as I'm drinking it from a v60 pourover right now I'm getting a strong honey sweetness and dried red fruit (currant?). Yesterday in a french press I was getting more floral notes like hibiscus and some raspberry.  

By definition, a honey coffee has had the sugars of the coffee fruit imbued into the pit during the processing, so it is a delicate bean that is susceptible to scorching. Home roasting units won't have a problem, but if you have a large drum roaster, don't preheat it above 350 degrees. Charging your drum too hot before dropping the beans into it will scorch them and ruin your batch. Once the roast is underway, nudge the heat up gently, evenly, get it through the 1st cracks, maybe wait 30-40 more seconds, let it out. If in doubt, err on the side of being too light. For coffee, we do a "City Roast" on this one. A few degrees darker than a natural Ethiopian, but not anywhere close to 2nd cracks. As you get darker, its still nice, but it loses its undertones. As you get into the 2nd cracks the sugars burn and it loses its appeal altogether. Try to keep the roast at 15 minutes or less. We also turn the exhaust fan down towards the end which lets the smoke mingle with the beans and speeds up the roast without adding more flame.

US Arrival August 2026