Colombia 1959 Pink Bourbon – Washed, Pijao

Raspberry, grapefruit and a touch of cinnamon – a sweet, silky Pink Bourbon from José Giraldo's Café 1959 project.

At a glance

• Origin: Pijao, Quindío, Colombia
• Producer: Café 1959 (José Giraldo)
• Variety: Pink Bourbon
• Altitude: 2000 m
• Process: washed
• Roast: omni – filter and espresso
• Tasting notes: raspberry, grapefruit, cinnamon
• Roasted by: Guido, Bucharest

In the cup

Raspberry leads, ripe and juicy, with a grapefruit snap keeping it bright. As the cup cools, the body turns silky and a warm, gently spiced cinnamon note appears. It lingers into a long, balanced finish. The washed process keeps every note well defined, so nothing blurs together.

Where it comes from

Café 1959 is the coffee company of José Giraldo, a third-generation Colombian coffee producer with a background in food engineering. His base is Pijao, a small town in Quindío, high in the Colombian Andes. In 2017 José took over land that had been abandoned for more than 20 years and replanted it with rare varieties in separate plots: Geisha, Pink Bourbon, Mokka, Wush Wush. He processes his lots at his own nearby lab, La Clarita. Pink Bourbon is a variety that ripens to a pinkish-orange cherry. It's prized for high sweetness and aromatic complexity, but it's fussy to grow, which is why you mostly find it with producers who focus on quality rather than volume.

How it's processed

1. Cherries are picked ripe at around 2000 m.
2. They are depulped and the seeds ferment before washing.
3. The coffee is washed clean, which keeps the profile bright and precise.
4. It is dried slowly before milling.

How we brew it

• Filter (V60 or Kalita): 15 g coffee, 250 g water at 93–95 °C, about 3:00 total – a slow last pour brings out the raspberry.
• Espresso: 18 g in, 40 g out in 28–32 seconds for a lively, structured shot.

Why it's on our shelf

It's sweet, it's precise, and it's a variety we rarely get to share. Small 200 g bags, because it's that kind of coffee.