Colombia - Yoiner Mosquera - Natural Process Gesha

Colombia Rosado is an Ethiopian Landrace varietal hybridized with the Colombia varietal. Oftentimes misnomered as Pink Bourbon. The varietal is grown widely in Huila due to its potential for a high-quality cup profile. Varietal specific characteristics focus on a medium body, medium to high acidity and notes of stone fruit, currant, citrus and other tropical fruits oftentimes accompanied by floral notes.

Natural processing has long been associated with coffee-producing countries like Ethiopia and Brazil, but it has become an increasingly important tool for innovative producers in southern Huila. In Palestina, where high elevations, abundant sunshine, and cool mountain nights create ideal drying conditions, producers are able to dry whole coffee cherries slowly and evenly, developing fruit character without sacrificing clarity.

Unlike washed coffees, natural coffees are dried with the fruit still surrounding the seed. As the cherries dry over several weeks, sugars and fruit compounds migrate into the coffee, creating greater sweetness, a fuller body, and layered fruit notes. Success depends on careful cherry selection, frequent turning, and meticulous attention throughout the drying process. A poorly managed natural can quickly become over-fermented or muddy, while a well-executed one remains clean, vibrant, and expressive.

The best natural coffees from Palestina don't simply taste "funky." They showcase the region's bright acidity and floral elegance while adding another dimension of ripe fruit and sweetness. When producers combine exceptional varieties with thoughtful natural processing, the result is a coffee that feels both distinctly Colombian and unmistakably expressive of the place it was grown.

Huila has earned a reputation as the epicenter of specialty coffee in Colombia, and few communities have contributed more to that reputation than the small mountain town of Palestina. Nearly every Huila coffee we source comes from the hills surrounding this town, where generations of producers have helped redefine what Colombian coffee can be. Today, Palestina is home to some of the country's most celebrated farms and has become a proving ground for exceptional varieties, innovative processing, and uncompromising quality.

One of the advantages of this region is its unique harvest cycle. Rather than producing a single annual crop, producers in Palestina typically harvest a main crop from October through January, followed by a smaller fly crop from May through July. These staggered harvests allow us to source remarkably fresh coffees from the region throughout much of the year, one of the reasons Huila remains such an important origin for us.

Most farms in Palestina are small, often just one to three hectares, allowing producers to manage every detail of production by hand. Many have shifted away from high-yield hybrids in favor of traditional and emerging arabica varieties such as Gesha, Colombia Rosado, Sidra, and Caturra, pairing thoughtful cultivation with processing methods designed to showcase both the variety and the place it was grown. The result is a style of coffee that has become synonymous with southern Huila: vibrant acidity, remarkable sweetness, generous body, and a level of clarity that continues to set the standard for Colombian specialty coffee.