We've seen an amazing run of 5 coffees from Colombia come through our doors over the last few months, and we end our season of Colombian coffees with a beautiful relationship coffee from Carlos Trujillo and his family of Patio Bonito. As with many of the coffees in this series, it's story with Case Study started in a blind cupping (coffee tasting) in Colombia. Once again I was smitten with one (this) particular coffee, and had one distinct tasting note for it - guava. I knew we would carry this coffee because I was in love with it. Amongst all it's competition on the table it stood out as a dead ringer for this tropical fruit, along with the familiar satisfying body and chocolate backbone.
Visiting the Trujillo's farm only solidified my resolve to bring this coffee to our shops, as well as affirmed my tasting notes from the previous day's cupping. Along with all the other flowers, fruits, vegetables growing in conjunction with their coffee, Patio Bonito's shade trees are guava trees, in full fruit. Thousands of ripe guava fruit had fallen from the tall trees and broken on the earth below the coffee trees scenting the air of the entire farm with their intoxicating fragrance. This was truly the most perfect example of "terroir" and its effect on what we taste in coffee (or wine for that matter).
Patio Bonito's story is one of passion for family, community, and the environment they call home. While many producer's sons and daughters move away from the family farm in search of other work and education, Carlos' daughter obtained her degree and came back to help Patio Bonito in its practices to become truly specialty coffee. They spent years not only investing in enhancing their own growing and milling practices to achieve better results, fetch higher prices, and be in alignment with the needs of their land and environment, but they went on a mission to encourage and educate neighboring producers to do the same thing. This has helped their surrounding community and environment immensely and has generated extra income to help propell their family and farm goals even farther forward.
Among the 25,000 Castillo Tambo coffee trees at Patio Bonito the family also grows all its own vegetables, many fruits, tomatoes for sale, and of course, hundreds of flowers both amongst the 5 hectares and on the patio surrounding their family home. It's truly a Patio Bonito, and I look forward to visiting them again soon. Please enjoy this special coffee for the 6 weeks we have it in the shops!
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