Why We Love This Roast

We are absolutely thrilled to present our favorite coffees from the 4th annual Huila Mágico competition! This has become one of the highlights of the year for us: Huila is one of our favorite growing regions in the world, and these are the finest coffees the region has to offer. In the inaugural competition (2021), we purchased the 1st, 2nd, and 7th place coffees. In 2022, we purchased the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place coffees. Last year, we purchased the 3rd and 4th place coffees. And this year, we purchased the 1st, 2nd, and 4th place coffees!

Finca Bella Vista is situated at 1,800 meters above sea level in Acevedo, Huila and is managed by 39 year old, first-generation coffee grower Ernesto Naranjo. This is a small farm - only 3 hectares of land, of which 2 are dedicated to growing exclusively Pink Bourbon coffee (about 3,500 trees). Ernesto got into coffee growing through his wife, Leidy Bravo, who inherited the farm from her parents. He got involved in 2020, right at the peak of the pandemic. Through much trial and error, cup quality from Finca Bella Vista has improved dramatically in just a few short years, so much so that they won the hotly contested 4th edition of the Huila Mágico competition.

The processing on this lot is quite simple. The ripest cherries are handpicked and then left to ferment in open tanks for 2 days before de-pulping. The parchment then is submerged in water for an additional 2 day fermentation before final washing and drying on raised beds for 15-17 days, depending on the weather. The magic here is in the attention to detail, not any never-been-done-before kind of processing.

The first thing that sprung to mind when we cupped this coffee was the old George Howell quote: “coffee processing is the window through which we see the coffee.” Bad processing dirties the window, making it hard to actually discern what a particular coffee grown in a particular set of growing conditions actually tastes like. This is one of the most transparent coffees we’ve ever tasted - that window is perfectly clean. We taste sweet kiwi, bright grapefruit, and flowers. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do, and as much as the competition judges did!

Water Recommendation: 

For those of you who want to get every last drop of excellence out of this coffee, our preferred brewing water (at least for cupping) is full strength Third Wave Water (130ppm GH, 40ppm KH), though Rao/Perger water (90ppm GH, 42ppm KH) is not far behind.

Full-strength Third Wave Water makes this coffee taste like fresh grapefruit juice that had some kiwi syrup squeezed into it. The sweetness and acidity are in perfect harmony.

Half-strength Third Wave Water (65ppm GH, 20ppm KH), which is nearly identical to Lance Hedrick’s Light & Bright water (60ppm GH, 25ppm KH), gives a much more acid-driven cup profile that lacks sweetness and complexity. The kiwi-like sweetness isn’t really present and it’s just sort of a one-dimensional grapefruit-forward cup.

Rao/Perger water gives an excellent flavor profile which really gives full strength Third Wave Water a run for its money. There is more nuance and complexity with this water but it isn’t quite as juicy.

Philadelphia water (Baxter water supply) filtered with a three-stage carbon system with a little softening (somewhat similar to what a Brita pitcher would do) also gives an excellent cup profile, most similar to full strength Third Wave Water, though there is a bit more generic brown “coffee-like” flavor to it.

If this is all very confusing—check out our blog post on water for coffee!