Colombia - Yulieth Mora's Ombligon [Fly Crop]

Brew Guide:

Best Brewed with: Filter

Lightest Roaster Influence: Pretty much bang on the same profile we used for the main-crop lot, ripping fast trying to minimise held-in-cherry flavours without grainy notes, maximising aromatics.

Best Rested: 3+ Weeks

Filter: 64g/L & 93°C, with rest we like to move down to 91°C to reduce the process notes

Espresso: Turbo shots + 3 weeks rest. 18g/45g+ & 20s

We're tasting: Big process forward aromatics - high ester rum, passionfruit, rose and peach juice. In the cup it's super peachy and tropical, reminding us of peach jam, with complex citra hop aromatics, passionfruit yoghurt, melon and a white chocolate sweetness, and it finishes on a very soft boozy pear note, reminding us of perry cider.

Traceability

The Story

Finca Villa Pastora sits in one of our favourite microregions in Huila - Palestina. A small farm of roughly eight hectares, their coffees grow under cedar, bamboo, and rubber trees shade trees, managed as a low-input approach without agrichemicals. Not certified organic, but following similar practices and towards a more regenerative style of agriculture, something we're big fans of. The farm employs around eight full-time workers from the surrounding area.

Pastora Anacona acquired the land in the 1980s and planted its first Typica, managing the farm until 2002 when her son Álvaro Arley Mora Anacona took over and began expanding the operation towards differentiated speciality production.

Yulieth and her brother Gerson are the third generation to work the land, and what was once a conventional Typica farm now cultivates Caturra, Tabí, Colombia, Rosado, Gesha, Orange Bourbon, Bourbon Rayado, and Ombligon. With that cultivar diversification has come investment in processing infrastructure and fermentation knowledge, and the family now also purchases cherry from neighbouring smallholders to process on-site. Cherry purchasing for heavy ferments is something we have mixed feelings on - on the one hand, if the prices paid for wet cherry are good, and the producers would not otherwise have the ability to access speciality markets or some of the premiums paid for lots like this, it's broadly a good thing (like for example in countries like Rwanda or Ethiopia where producers could not be expected to have the resources to process on site or the farm sizes do not support it). On the flipside, if producers are able to process and dry their own coffee, it's the best way for them to retain value - but not everyone has the knowledge, equipment and ability to take the risk on higher intervention lots, and getting it wrong can mean effectively throwing away your crop and your money, as badly fermented lots are not able to be sold to commercial buyers (who want clean, non-fruity cups without "unwashed" flavours). Like we said, mixed feelings - so long as the wet cherry price is good, we're broadly on board with it.

Ombligon is a variety believed to be a natural mutation with Ethiopian landrace lineage, named for the distinctive dimple (ombligo, belly button) at the base of its cherry. It is also known as Papayo in Quindío - it's likely they are just the same variety when you see them, but then seedstock purity, cross pollination and whatnot in Colombia means there could be some local diversity - see the rise of "Colombian" Gesha vs the Panama accessions and original Gori Gesha lines. Genetic testing indicates a close relationship to Ethiopian landraces rather than the Bourbon or Caturra parentage initially assumed, though its precise origins remain unconfirmed.

The variety first gained widespread international attention in 2023 when an Ombligon lot was used to secure a podium finish at the World Barista Championship. Since then, recognised cup quality has driven increased planting across Huila and more offerings are reaching the international market each year. For reasons we haven't quite figured out yet (our theory is that it's purely due to coming to prominence in a time where this style dominates attention), Ombligon is rarely processed with a light hand, and the vast majority of lots available tend towards high technical intervention. Having previously featured an Ombligon via La Soledad, we know from experience that the variety offers a base of clean, bright acidity and pronounced aromatics that responds well to heavier post-harvest techniques, which is exactly what Yulieth has delivered here.