Lolly Drop Espresso

About the Coffee

Jose Martinez grew up on a coffee farm in Pitalito, Colombia, learned the trade from his father, and then left at 16 to spend over a decade driving long-haul buses. Eventually he came back, bought the farm from his dad, and started over. Phil & Sebastian's Sebastian first met Jose in October 2014 while cupping coffees in Pitalito. With half an hour before he had to leave for the airport, Jose jumped on his motorbike and returned 29 minutes later with four green coffee samples. Days later, back in Calgary, Phil and Sebastian tasted those samples and committed to buying Jose's entire harvest.

Since 2015, Jose and his wife Francy have run the farm together and rebuilt it almost entirely. They grow Caturra, Pink Bourbon, and Ethiopia Heirloom varieties, keeping trees well-spaced and under natural shade. At harvest, they use a Brix meter to guide pickers toward optimally ripe cherries. Fermentation follows a two-stage process: 36 hours of anaerobic (sealed, oxygen-free) fermentation in whole cherry form, then 36 to 40 hours in an open tank. pH meters mark the end points. After washing, the coffee dries in a large shaded structure Jose built himself, fitted with a curtain system to manage airflow precisely. When Sebastian first visited and suggested Jose improve his drying setup, Jose had the infrastructure built within a few months.

The farm sits in Huila, one of Colombia's most respected coffee-growing regions, at elevations that support the slow cherry development that comes through clearly in the cup. Phil & Sebastian have bought from Jose and Francy every year since 2015.

About Phil & Sebastian

Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb co-founded Phil & Sebastian in 2007 in Calgary, Canada. Phil came from an engineering background and designed the roastery's custom roasting machine, including the software that runs it. Sebastian's focus has been on the business and cafe side, along with buying green coffee in Central and South America. Both travel to origin to buy coffee directly.

Phil & Sebastian pay well above the industry average for green coffee and invest in on-the-ground projects at origin. The relationship with Jose and Francy Martinez is a good example of how that works in practice: a decade-long partnership that started with a motorbike, four coffee samples, and a 29-minute deadline.

"Phil & Sebastian is a favourite of mine from my time in Calgary. My wife swore by their "Hartmann Honey" beans, and we stocked it (or, maybe "hoarded" is a better word) for as long as they sold it. It feels like a 'full circle' moment to finally have them in our rotation."

- Dean, Director of Coffee