Colombia Las Margaritas

This Sudan Rume variety​ is nearly always a show-stopper. This year it comes to us fully washed, and maintains the distinctive cardamom note we detected in ​last year’s crop​, with impressive cleanliness and a complex florality unmatched even in many Geshas we’ve seen of late. It is very sweet, and underlying its characteristic chamomile and spice are layers of soft citrus and stone fruits. It is a dense cup, but immensely pleasurable, offering unique flavors with each sip.

Frequently recognized by the brand Café Granja la Esperanza, brothers Luis and Rigoberto Herrera are the proprietors of a small group of farms in central Colombia: Cerro Azul, Las Margaritas, La Esperanza, Potosí, and Hawaii.

Crown Jewel worked with a number of exclusive microlots from this innovative group of farms since the beginning of the organization. It seems like every harvest, the Herrera hermanos come up with something new and innovative, exemplifying the stewardship undertaken by their father, who first diversified their coffees to include Yellow and Red Bourbon, Caturra, and Typica back in 1945.

Sudan Rume (sometimes written “Rume Sudan”) is an ancient variety, originally hailing from what is now South Sudan’s Boma plateau. Not far from the border of Ethiopia, coffee still grows wild in the forest throughout the region, one of the likely the origins of Arabica. The Sudan Rume variety is primarily cultivated as a source of genetic material for inclusion in hybrids (popular examples include Kenya’s SL-28 and the ​Centroamericano F1 hybrid​); the coffee’s productivity is very limited and as a result has generally not been grown commercially. Interestingly, compared with other “pure” Arabica strains, most lines of Sudan Rume show surprising resistance to afflictions like Coffee Berry Disease and Rust.