Colombia | Jose Burbano

Region: Alto Las Chinas, San Augustin, Colombia
Variety: Pink Bourbon
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1800 masl
We Taste: Raspberry, Pomelo, Earl Grey

Jose Burbano's journey in growing coffee began when he was 12 years old, working alongside his parents on their coffee farms. By 18, he was tending to 1,000 trees of Caturra of his own. In the 90s, Jose would often sell his cherry "en verde", which meant that the cherries were depulped and immediately sold in the local market. Though this method of sale fetches incredibly low prices, it was somewhat more viable in the past, because the overall cost of growing coffee used to be much lower. However, growing coffee today is much more challenging. The costs of production couple with inflation have made it far more expensive while difficult-to-control diseases such as roya make it far more risky. Despite the fact that selling coffee "en verde" no longer being a sustainable option, many smallholder producers in San Augustin still operate this way because they lack the resources to navigate the supply chain and sell their coffee in better markets. Though Jose was fortunate to find a better market for his coffee through the Los Naranjos group in the 2000's, his coffee was being blended into very large regional lots with very little traceability and the prices he received were only marginally better than those of the local markets. This left him disheartened and disconnected from his customers and his coffee. However, Jose has now joined the Monkaaba group who are working toward solving these issues for producers in their community. 

Monkaaba is an initiative rooted in collaboration that is aimed at assisting smallholder producers in finding better market access and better prices for their coffees, and invests in them to ensure their future success.  The leaders of the Monkaaba group are educating producers on how the supply chain works so that they can better navigate it, while helping them to improve growing, harvesting, and processing techniques. They also host open weekly cuppings to improve producers' ability to evaluate and understand their coffees while they receive feedback from other members. These open dialogues about pricing, quality, and the market are helping to create a more robust community of smallholder farmers in San Augustin.

Because of this work, Jose now has stronger and more direct relationships with roasters, providing him with not only higher prices but with buyers intent on durable, long-term relationships.  We are excited at the prospect of being one of those roasters and hope to purchase his coffee for years to come. His pink bourbon is a beautiful representation of the variety with flavors of ripe red berries, pomelo, and a floral quality that reminds us of earl grey tea.

Price Breakdown:

Our Total Cost: $8.71/lb
Packaging, labor, and weight loss: $3.81/lb
Green Price: $4.90/lb
FOB Price: $3.57/lb
Farm Gate Price: 2,500,000 Colombian Pesos per carga

Importer: Semilla

*We roast on Tuesdays and ship the following day; order cutoff is 7:00 am Tuesday morning