Colombia Buena Vista Espresso

About the Coffee

Damian Bolanos grew up in Kennedy, a small neighbourhood on the outskirts of San Agustin, Huila, where he spent his childhood helping on his family's coffee farm. After high school, he worked briefly at a supermarket, then at an agrochemical company, where he learned about coffee cultivation. He used those earnings to invest in the farm, and in 2015, the family moved onto the land in La Muralla. For the first two years, they had no choice but to sell their coffee en verde (unprocessed, green cherry) at half the market price. That changed in 2017, when Damian's coffee ranked in the top 15 at the "Best of Huila" cupping contest, giving the family a clear path into the specialty coffee market.

The Buena Vista farm sits at 1,834 meters above sea level, surrounded by native oak forests and natural springs, in the corridor between the Central and Eastern ranges of the Andes. This Caturra lot is processed at the farm's own small wet mill. Cherries are collected every two weeks, floated to remove defects, and fermented whole for 15 to 18 hours. They are then depulped and left to dry-ferment for another 36 to 38 hours. After a 6-hour drain in washing tanks, the seeds move to a solar dryer for 18 to 20 days. In late 2022, Damian joined the Monkaaba group as an apprentice sample roaster, and now regularly cups his own lots as he continues refining his processing approach.

Detour recommends a peak rest time of 5 to 40 days off roast for this coffee.

About Detour

Detour started in 2009 in a back alleyway in Dundas, Ontario. The approach is straightforward: source traceable coffees, build direct relationships with producers, and roast in small batches on a Loring roaster, which uses convection heat to produce a clean, even roast with flavours that are easy to extract at home.

Their sourcing philosophy comes down to three priorities: relationships with the people growing the coffee, traceability through the process, and quality in the final product. Those principles guide every buying decision they make.