Colombia Pink Bourbon

About the Coffee

This coffee comes from four smallholder producers in Huila, Colombia, working at elevations between 1,600 and 1,800 meters. Fernwood selected it in collaboration with Azahar, a Colombian sourcing company whose Bourbon Project focuses on traceable premiums and producer-first pricing. Each producer's coffee was processed separately before being blended for consistency.

Pink Bourbon is a heritage variety that many Colombian farmers have moved away from. It produces lower yields than newer cultivars and requires careful, selective harvesting to get right. Azahar's Bourbon Project exists specifically to make growing it financially worthwhile. Because of the extra labour involved, the four producers behind this lot were paid a premium well above the local market rate. Gustavo Vega, Azahar's director of quality based in Pitalito, oversaw the work on the ground. Cherries were sorted carefully at harvest, and each producer's coffee went through its own 24-hour fermentation in cherry, followed by de-pulping and a 48 to 120 hour tank fermentation before drying.

The washed process (where the fruit is fully removed before drying) keeps the cup clean and lets the Pink Bourbon variety speak for itself. The long tank fermentation gives the coffee more complexity than a standard washed lot, without muddying the clarity that makes this variety worth growing in the first place.

About Fernwood

Fernwood was started in 2007 by Ben and Terra, who bought a Victoria café called Parsonage, where a 1936 Barth roaster was already sitting in the back. Both came from restaurant backgrounds, and that shaped how they approached coffee from the start. Sourcing, roasting, and relationships with staff and partners all run on the same logic they brought from hospitality: consistency, care, and no shortcuts.

At a time when grocery-shelf coffee was considered incompatible with quality, Fernwood chose to pursue both at once, one-pound bags, daily quality control, and standards that eventually earned them a Canadian Barista Championship win. Many of the people who joined in early roles still lead parts of the business today.

"Fernwood is a roaster you'll see all over Reddit as being one of BC's best. I asked to try their coffee, and now I get what all the hype is about. I bought a few extra bags of Manos al Grano for my stash at home."

- Dean, Director of Coffee