Luis Anibal Calderon Papayo

Producer: Luis Anibal Calderon 
Origin: Acevedo, Huila, Colombia
Elevation: 1550 MASL
Variety: Papayo
Process: Washed 
Importer: Cofinet
Flavor Notes: Pineapple, Nectarine, Clover Honey, Velvety

New variety alert!!! Sooo excited to be dropping this stunner from our good friends at Cofinet - introducing Luis Anibal Caderon's single variety lot of Papayo (not Papaya - but affectionally named such as the cherries ripen to look like lil' mini papaya's)! 

Luis is a 2nd generation coffee farmer and has been working in his farm for over 40 years now and is hitting a stride in specialty after some years of struggle finding his footing with commodity level coffees. 

As told to us by Cofinet: 
Back in 2011, Luis was at serious risk of losing his farm to the bank. At that point, he was mainly selling his coffee on the C-market and the price he was receiving was barely enough to cover the cost of production, let alone repay the loan he had taken out to purchase land to extend the size of his coffee farm. It was at this point Luis approached his local town’s Specialty Coffee Association. They were willing to pay 15% above the C-price, not enough to truly reward Luis for the extra effort required to produce specialty grade coffee but enough to sustain Luis and drive him to explore this avenue of the industry further. As a result, in 2012 he planted 5,000 Gesha trees and after waiting an arduous three years for the trees to bear fruit, Luis was converted.

In 2015, Luis decided to embark on the mission to convert his entire farm to exotic coffee varieties. Now, more than five years since that decision, Luis’s farm Finca Villa Betulia is a beacon for specialty coffee production in Acevedo, Huila. On his farms you will find all sorts of exotic varieties including Red Gesha, Tabi, Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, Java, Sidra, Striped Bourbon, Chilli Bourbon, Caturra, Typica, Maragogype, Pacamara, Marageisha, Pink Bourbon, Papayo, Caturron, Liberica, Variedad Colombia, Castillo, Red Leaf, Red Bourbon, Dwarf Gesha, Pink Gesha, Yellow Gesha, Wush Wush, Dwarf Yellow Bourbon, Mokka and Maracaturra.

Luis, along with the assistance of Cofinet, has worked to improve his processing methods for high-end micro-lots. He is now a master in many processing methods such as Extended Fermentation, Honeys and Naturals.

The lot we have here is a washed process of the Papayo variety.  Papayo is a newly 'rediscovered' variety hailing from Huila, Colombia with a similar story to that of Pink Bourbon and Chiroso sharing similar genetic makeup to Ethiopian landrace varieties.  The variety presents with a complex, fruited, tropical flavor profile and a coding and silky mouthfeel. 

In the cup you're hit with a pointed and bright acidity profile that is reminiscent of pineapple hard candies that is complimented by a nectarine sweetness.  These fruited notes are balanced out by a floral clover honey foundation and finishes with a refreshing citrus medley.  

We have limited quantities of this lot so jump on it!!!