Colombia Buesaco Pequeños Espresso, Washed Field Blend

About the Coffee

Cultivando Futuro started in 2019 in Buesaco, Nariño, after surveying 2,000 producers and identifying 28 founding members willing to work together to improve the quality and value of their coffee. The association has grown since then, and its members farm Caturra, Castillo, and Variedad Colombia at elevations between 1,700 and 2,100 meters above sea level. Nariño's steep slopes and the warm, humid air that rises from the valleys each evening let producers grow coffee at altitudes that would bring frost risk almost anywhere else in Colombia.

The association gives members access to loans for purchasing fertilizers, a shared lending library of specialized farm tools, collective transportation to move coffee more efficiently, and a centralized warehouse with a cupping lab run by a trained member from within the group. Most members process their coffee using a washed method: they de-pulp the cherry, then ferment the coffee in open tanks for two to four weeks before drying. Cultivando Futuro has also begun supporting smaller, more remote associations in Nariño, helping them build better farming and processing practices from the ground up.

Subtext sourced 1,750 kg of this lot through their importer Shared Source, who has been working with Cultivando Futuro for approximately three years. This is Subtext's second year buying from this group. The total lot was 4,200 kg, and Subtext paid $6.25 USD per pound. The coffee scored 86 on Subtext's internal cupping scale.

About Subtext

Subtext is a roastery based in Toronto, roasting out of one of the city's industrial west-end buildings. Their sourcing approach centers on transparency: every coffee on their shelf carries the producer's name, not a broad regional label, because they see naming the producer as a basic step toward accountability in the supply chain. They work with importers who share that orientation, including Shared Source, who brought them this lot from Cultivando Futuro.

On the roasting side, Subtext uses colorimeters and refractometers alongside regular moisture, density, and solubility testing to track how each coffee is developing. They roast to highlight origin character rather than introduce roast flavors, and they evaluate profiles blind against what they consider the best comparable coffees available. For this espresso, they recommend resting the coffee for three weeks after the roast date before brewing.