Raquel Lasso Colombia

La Bohemia has been Raquel and Carlos Lasso's farm for nearly 30 years. It sits along the trail of Buenos Aires, about 40 minutes outside La Unión, Nariño, at around 2,000 meters above sea level. Six hectares of coffee trees, light shade, and the kind of mountain fog that rolls in and makes the whole place feel a little otherworldly.

Over time, an isolated pocket of Pink Bourbon on the property developed into something entirely its own. Shaped by the farm's unique conditions, it transmuted into a variety of which Raquel named Bourbon Sútil. This is a highly nuanced and complex variety that carries the character of Pink Bourbon while becoming something distinctly its own.

Raquel and Carlos have fallen into a rhythm that makes them a coffee producing powerhouse. Carlos handles all the processing, keeping a close eye on every lot from start to finish. Raquel focuses on the bigger picture, including a self-sustaining greenhouse project that grows vegetables and keeps things moving during Nariño's off-season.

For this Bourbon Sútil lot, Carlos ran a 96-hour fermentation in mucilage. He doesn't rely on a clock to know when it's done. Instead, he tastes the mosto from each fermenting lot until it's ready. His benchmark? It should taste like a good wine. Once fermentation wraps up, the coffee is washed with just a little water, as the fermentation has already done most of the work loosening the mucilage from the bean. It's then laid out to dry on raised beds near the house and finished with a 25-day stabilization in GrainPro bags before heading to the mill.