Colombia . El Silencio . Red Pacamara

Notes of hibiscus, winey fruit, dark cherry, plum, and cola. Grown at El Silencio, high in Palestina, southern Huila, between 1,700 and 2,200 metres, in what locals call the Southern Gateway to the Macizo. Volcanic soil and cold mountain winds shape a rugged finca culture here, remote from the tourist trail, producing coffees of startling clarity and sweetness. Processed Natural, the cherries are dried whole on the bean, unwashed and unhurried, to concentrate sugars and build the lot's deep, winey character. The variety is Red Pacamara, developed in 1958 by the Salvadoran Institute for Coffee Research from a cross of Pacas and the giant beaned Maragogipe. Its oversized beans are notoriously difficult to grow, prone to disease and inconsistent yield, rewarded here with the scale and structure only Pacamara can deliver.