Coffee of the Month

Pitaya coffee comes from farms situated in the municipality of Palestina in southern Huila. The Huila department is widely recognized both in Colombia and internationally as the country’s largest coffee producer by volume, while also being known for cultivating a significant amount of specialty-grade coffee, typically grown on small farms averaging 3-4 hectares.

Huila is part of the Colombia Massif, a UNESCO Biosphere reserve covering 4 departments of Southwest Colombia where the Andes separate into two mountain ranges (central and eastern) and where 5 of Colombia’s main rivers are born. This reserve is a strategic area for Colombia, holding more than 70% of the country’s freshwater and an impressive source of biodiversity. Soils in the Massif are extremely rich and fertile for agriculture.

What this location means for coffee is that the ecosystem in which coffee grows between 1200 and 2000 masl is conducive to the development of complexity in the fruit. As described in the Appellation of Origin “Cafe de Huila”: the limited sunlight in the region, averaging 1,260 hours per year – about 3.5 hours per day – creates a natural shade that encourages the accumulation of chemical precursors (lipid content and chlorogenic acids) which positively contribute to the coffee's flavour profile.