To capture the fruitiness in Rosabaya de Colombia, we’ve chosen coffee cultivated at around 2,000 metres in Cauca and Nariño and kept cool in Paramo de Letras at 3,648 metres. Join us on the sky-scraping beginnings of this vivacious Grand Cru.
In the mountainous regions of Cauca and Nariño, about 2,000 metres in altitude, coffee farmers mainly cultivate Arabica’s Castillo variety. Higher altitudes generate fine flavours and intense coffee acidity. Altitude and shade (whether from trees or cloud cover) can mean the bean takes longer to ripen and it absorbs all the sweet sugars of its surrounding fruit. Cauca is one of the coffee regions with highest number of farmers in the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program. Over the past seven years, we have worked hand in hand with local partners like Federación de Cafeteros and farming communities in Cauca to protect and regenerated their terroir while at the same time tripling the quantity of AAA coffee they produce. Some of these farmers have participated in our agroforestry program by planting around 80,000 native trees; they are also saving 100,000m3 of water every year through applying best practices and utilizing water treatment systems provided by Nespresso.
Harvest season lasts from four to six weeks, which is when farmers and their families handpick crops. It takes so long because not all coffee cherries on a branch ripen at the same time, so farmers must return to the same tree repeatedly to harvest all its fruit when ripe. While very time-consuming, each step in this process ensures a consistent, high-quality cup of coffee.
At the end of each day, coffee farmers sort cherries by hand to weed out any green ones. As unripe cherries add an unpleasant astringency to the final cup and therefore reduce the amount farmers earn, we train farmers to pick as many red ones as possible.
The farmers feed the coffee cherries into a machine that removes their outer skin and pulp, which is known as pulping. The cherries are then fermented between 12 to 20 hours to remove their flesh. Any remaining bits are then washed off. You’re then left with the parchment bean. Washing coffee maximises its finer flavour potential and acidity.
Farmers thinly rake the beans onto raised beds or terraces, where they dry in the sun for at least a week depending on the weather. The beans are covered if it rains during the day, and are always covered at night.
At this stage the beans are now known as “parchment coffee” as they’re covered in a thin, papery layer. The farmers pack them into 40kg bags and take them to their chosen co-operative.
The co-operative checks the quality of the coffee and pays the farmers accordingly. Nespresso pays a special additional premium to the farmers who are a part of the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program.
Our experts meticulously taste for quality and the coffee bags are then grouped into bundles based on their sensory profile. Here we’re looking for luscious ripe fruit flavours and pronounced acidity – a scintillating clarity of cup.
To protect the quality of the coffee while it’s waiting to be shipped, it’s sent to a warehouse in Paramo de Letras, which has an altitude of 3,648 metres. The climate (-5 to 9 degrees C) acts almost as a natural freezer and helps preserve it.
"The climate (5 to 9 degrees C) acts almost as a natural freezer and helps preserve it."
At a Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) dry mill, the beans are hulled of their parchment skin and sorted by size. Defective beans are removed by both machine and hand.
Almost there! The beans are shipped to a warehouse in Europe, then sent to Switzerland where we roast, grind and blend them before putting them into capsules.
Our Rosabaya de Colombia coffee has been on quite an adventure (and through many, many steps) to be worthy of the cup. Great journeys create character and Rosabaya is no exception. This big blend of separately roasted fine Colombian Arabicas is brimming with fruity notes and juicy acidity. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
Our Rosabaya de Colombia coffee has been on quite an adventure (and through many, many steps) to be worthy of the cup. Great journeys create character and Rosabaya is no exception. This big blend of separately roasted fine Colombian Arabicas is brimming with fruity notes and juicy acidity. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
