José Hernán Quintero

José Hernán Quintero has always been involved with coffee. His parents were coffee producers and having his own land to produce coffee to continue his parent’s legacy had always been a dream. He has participated in the Cup of Excellence multiple times and his coffee most recently placed 6th. These achievements have motivated him to pay closer attention to his coffee and to focus solely on producing specialty coffee.

José and his wife Nubia Marín work at Finca la Pradera together with their son. Nubia is in charge accounting and keeping a record of traceability for every single lot and their son is in charge of receiving the coffee after picking and carrying out the post-harvest processes. José trains and gives instructions to the workers and pickers.

The Bourbon variety is known for its concentrated sweetness and balancing acidity. It will display these attributes differently from region-to-region but that lasting, sugary finish is alway consistent. José has honey processed this coffee - an approach he takes regularly with his pickings with the goal of enhancing their sweetness and adding texture.

Honey processing is a blanket term used to describe a coffee cherry that has been de-pulped and dried with some mucilage (fruit pulp) left attached. The sugars from the left over mucilage cause some fermentation throughout the drying period. We usually experience a creamier texture and a rounded acidity with honeys.

All this to say this is a sweet coffee. It jumped out at us when we last visited Colombia and without even knowing it was from José we knew we had to secure it. There are only 12 vacuum sealed bricks of this lot - producing a little under 400lbs of roasted coffee - so it will be around for just a few weeks.

In the cup we experience ripe peach, fuji apple, soft caramel and praline but this coffee is all about that silky texture. An absolute delight to drink.

Producer → José Hernán Quintero
Farm → La Pradera
Location → Harrera, Tolima, Colombia
Altitude → 1,700 masl
Varieties → Yellow Bourbon
Process → Honey