Colombia Finca Monteblanco is one of our first Noteworthy coffees which is the new line of Reserve specialty coffee from Opus. This one is produced in the mountains of Vereda La Tocora in the San Adolfo municipality above Pitalito in the Huila region. It is managed by a 3rd generation farmer, Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia. Monteblanco’s 18 hectares sit on the crest of a hill, with the wet mill and drying facilities at the top of the farm and slopes of coffee planted below.
Connecting coffee farming to the experience of each cup
In 2002, Rodrigo participated in a regional program teaching cupping skills to children of local coffee producers. Through learning how to differentiate taste profiles during this experience, it also revealed to him the connection between coffee farming and processing techniques and the experience of each resulting cup of coffee. These discoveries solidified his commitment to ensuring that his farm only produced the highest quality coffee.
Inspired by these events, he began a detailed exploration of the trees planted on the Monteblanco farm, and this is where his journey of producing consistent quality coffee really took off – right at the source. He discovered various varieties his grandfather had planted in the 1980s including the Purple Caturra, a type of Caturra whose cherries, as the name suggests, ripen to a deep purple color.
Now, Rodrigo is proud that he, his wife Claudia Samboni, farm manager Don Gerardo, and the team that works in the fields and at the mill have been able to realize his vision for Finca Monteblanco. His farm produces both microlots harvested for competition coffees around the world as well as larger yields of delicious coffees that appear year-round at cafes and on retail shelves. No matter which coffee he is producing and sharing with the world, his coffees showcase their full potential with consistent quality.
The co-fermentation process creates a notable coffee
This Colombia Finca Monteblanco purple caturra is no exception to that rule. Its cultivation began with the creation of a mother fermentation culture containing microorganisms like lactobacillus and saccharomyces cerevisiaee derived from the coffee’s cherries. Eighty liters of this culture was separated and fed with sugar, molasses, citrus fruits, and coconut. The fruit mixture contributes flavor to the culture, while the sweetener energizes the fermentation and brings the culture’s sugar content to the appropriate level of sucrose concentration, aka its Brix value. It takes about 190 hours of this first step to attain the appropriate degrees Brix and pH value for coffee processing.
Before being processed with the fruit-fermented culture, coffee cherries are measured for sugar content and then floated to find and remove any that have impurities before being deposited into a 200 litre sealed tank. The fermented culture is then added to the sealed tank, and the coffee is fermented for 150 hours. During this process, the team keeps measurements to ensure that the environment doesn’t fall below 6 degrees Brix or below a pH of 4. The coffee is then moved to the drying area, where it is dried in varying degrees of sunlight. First, it is dried in direct sunlight for 2 to 3 days, and then it is moved under shaded canopies for 15 to 18 days until it reaches 10–11% humidity.
We then take this amazing coffee and lightly roast it to bring out a flavor profile with the richness of coconut cream and the brightness of lemons. It is a notable experience that any adventurous coffee sipper or coffee connoisseur will enjoy.