This is my second "holiday coffee". Yes, that's right, I went to Colombia, and now you have to hear about it.
So we bought this coffee on our visit to Caravela in Bogota. It was a dope experience! I went into detail about our cupping with the guys and the selection process in the description of the Linarco Rodriguez release... so if you're super interested in what it's like to visit an exporters at origin check out that blurb if it's not sold out already.
We cupped 12 coffees at Caravela, this was the second choice of the 3 we purchased. I just had to buy it because it's mental. We had a seriously peng Thermal shock coffee from El Jaragual that sold out instantly, this had a lot of the same whacky notes going on, sickly sweet but with some crazy herby ganja smell going on. Seriously stand out.
After we purchased the coffee's we asked the QC team where we should go out in Bogota that night. We explained that we had to fly to the dry mill early in the morning so didn't want a mad one, but we're keen for something authentic to eat, and looking for a taste of the local nightlife. They all had their own suggestions, but Juan was pretty keen we check out Andres DC. When he suggested it some of the girls pulled funny faces, but we'd been hanging out with Juan all day, so thought we'd go with his suggestion.
It was such a bad recommendation for us! It was like a Latin America Disneyland, gimmicky, TGI Fridays, Butlins, full of old American dudes with young women type vibe. We tried our best to enjoy it for a bit, I guess the band was alright, but after a couple of cocktails it still wasn't sitting right so we set out in search of the "real Bogota".
We found a place on google maps that advertised "24hr Tejo" -a game a bit like bowling where you get to explode gunpowder sachets- and after checking with a bouncer that it was a safe area for tourists jumped in a taxi. The bouncer didn't exactly confirm that it was a safe area to go to, but he did laugh a lot when we showed him the spot on the map, which seemed friendly, so we thought everybody there would probably be on the same vibe.
Needless to say it was a total mistake. The real Bogota we found was real scary. After I got out of the cab I ran back to it instantly, only to be told by the driver that we'd be dead if he left us there (he'd only just realised that we had no idea where we were going and the only Spanish we knew was how to order a taxi). It was pretty peak tbh, I'm super glad the cab driver waited because I didn't fancy trying to make friends with the scary guys. Bogota otherwise didn't feel too shady, and I guess you can run into trouble heading to areas you don't know round here too.
In a way Juan did us a favour by sending us to the cheesy club... the events that followed brought a swift end to our drinking, which meant we we were fresh to fly out to the dry mill in the morning.
Here's a load of stuff about Norberto and the coffee that has nothing to do with my holiday:
This Typica was harvested at peak ripeness, with only ripe cherries selected. After harvesting, the cherries were floated to remove any with density issues, as those tend to float. The remaining cherries were then placed in a sealed barrel and fermented for 28 hours. Following this initial fermentation, they were depulped and returned to the barrel for a second fermentation lasting 48 hours. Afterward, the coffee was thoroughly washed and dried in a marquesina (a covered, greenhouse-like structure) on raised beds.
Norberto Noreña Marín is a coffee producer from Planadas, Tolima, with years of experience in cultivating high-quality coffee. He grew up on his family's farm in the La Unión hamlet, learning coffee farming from his parents, Alejandro Noreña and Ligia Marín. At 20, he acquired his own land in Corazón de Gaitania, where he began growing Typica and Caturra varieties.
Over time, Norberto shifted from traditional coffee farming to specialty coffee production, refining his post-harvest processing techniques, including fermentation and drying. His experience working with the Coffee Committee and his wife, Vianey Saavedra Pérez, played a key role in this transition.
In 2018, he introduced Geisha coffee to his farm and focused on improving quality through careful processing. His efforts led to his participation in the Colombia Land of Diversity 2024 Auction, where his coffee was recognized for its high quality.
Norberto continues to produce coffee in Planadas, focusing on improving his farm’s production and reaching new markets. His Typica lot reflects some typical characteristics of the Tolima region - sweetness, brightness, clarity - but also not at all because what he's done with the fermentation has made it totally bonkers and complex.
