Colombia Urrao Heirloom Caturra

This microlot from our latest container of Colombia arrivals comes to us from the Pavon Valley area of Urrao, Antioquia. Urrao is a unique growing region for many reasons. Coffee farmers are afforded high altitudes (the valley floor starts at 1800 meters, farms planted up to 2100!), regular rainfall, and an ideal temperature range for growing coffee almost year round (centered around 2 main harvests). There is also an heirloom cultivar found at a lot of farms in Urrao that we don't see in other parts of the country. As best as we can tell, this cultivar (locally referred to as "Caturra Chiroso") is a natural regression of Caturra, standing out from other cultivars by tree height, and the elongated and narrow-shaped cherries/seeds that look an awful lot like Typica. And perhaps most important, the cup is known to be fruit forward, and even floral. Passed from one neighbor to the next, several farmers have taken to planting their farms exclusively in this heirloom cultivar. The three farms that make up this lot are 1 - 3 hectares in size, and planted entirely in this heirloom Caturra. These are fully-washed coffees processed at their homes. Fermentation times in Urrao tend to be on the long side in comparison to other parts of the country, partly because of the cold weather and water, but also because farmers tend to mix process batches over the course of a few days, changing out the water daily to avoid over fermentation. It works well given the climate, and no surprise Urrao coffees tend to be some of the more fruit-forward Colombian coffees we buy. It's worth noting that the winner of this year's Colombia Cup of Excellence competition ("COE") submitted a small lot of 100% Caturra Chiroso from the same region. It was grown by two coffee farmers who have sung the praises of this delicious cultivar to their neighbors (and farmers in neighboring communities), working hard to distribute seedlings of Chiroso to anyone who will listen.