Colombia Buesaco Pequeños, Washed Field Blend

About the Coffee

Cultivando Futuro started in 2019 in Buesaco, Nariño, with a survey of 2,000 producers that identified 28 founding members. The association has grown since then, and now supports smaller groups in more remote parts of Nariño as well. Members farm at 1,700 to 2,100 meters above sea level, growing Caturra, Castillo, and Variedad Colombia on the steep, nutrient-rich slopes that Nariño is known for. Warm, humid air rising from the valleys at night makes those high altitudes workable without frost risk, which is part of why the region consistently produces coffees of strong quality.

The association was built around practical, shared resources: members can borrow from a lending library of farm tools, access loans for fertilizers, use collective transportation to move coffee more efficiently, and bring their harvests to a centralized warehouse and cupping lab. That lab is staffed by a trained member cupper, which gives the group a direct way to assess and improve quality on-site. Most members process their coffee the same way: they de-pulp the cherries and then ferment the coffee in open tanks for two to four weeks before drying, a longer fermentation window than is typical for washed coffees.

Subtext sourced this lot through Shared Source, an importer that has been working with Cultivando Futuro for about three years. This is Subtext's second year purchasing this specific lot. They paid $6.25 USD per pound, against a farmgate price of 3,095,066.90 COP per carga (125 kg of parchment). The total lot was 4,200 kg, and Subtext purchased 1,750 kg of it. Their internal cupping score for this coffee is 86.

About Subtext

Subtext is a roastery based in Toronto, operating out of a space at 130 Cawthra Ave in the city's west end. Their approach to sourcing is built around traceability: every coffee they sell carries the producer's name, and they publish pricing information, lot sizes, and importer details directly on each product page. They don't blend coffees or roast dark, which they see as a way of keeping the producer's work visible rather than absorbed into the roaster's own identity.

On the roasting side, they use colorimeters, refractometers, and thermocouple readings throughout each roast to track development and consistency. Profiles are tested for solubility and evaluated blind alongside coffees from comparable regions. They work with a small group of importers, including Shared Source, who they choose based on alignment around pricing transparency and producer relationships.