You might have noticed our offer list generally contains between six and 16 different Colombian coffees at any given time — we all benefit massively from the affordable and delicious coffees constantly coming out of Colombia these days. Right now, Colombian producers need our help in the aftermath of the colossal earthquake on August 10th. Our friends and partners at Fundación Apuna & Siruma Coffee, who source Chapata for us, have started a disaster relief fund for smallholders who have been affected. £1 per bag of this coffee sold will be donated to this fund (alongside additional money from the general Skylark Uplift Fund).
A perennial fan pick, Chapata is one of our favourite relationship coffees from Colombia. We’ve been buying a large quantity of this coffee for 6 years now, and our partners Siruma x Falcon are doing brilliant sustainability and educational work on the ground in this region of the world.
This fresh-crop Chapata is one of the most sugary coffees we'll have, with unusually clean tropical fruit notes of mango and papaya along with candied tamarind paste. If you're looking for the sweet explosion of the season with a little less funk, get this one! It's a unique chance to experience these tropical notes without much booziness.
We're honoured to work with our importing friends at Falcon, who are always looking for ways to support small Colombian coffee farmers. Since 2021, they've linked with Colombian exporter Siruma to provide training, price transparency, and accessibility to smallholder farmers across Colombia, especially those in remote areas. It's especially valuable for these farmers to receive education on the business of speciality coffee. The more knowledge they have, the more they can advocate for themselves and their products in the coffee market. Chapata was purchased as a part of this ongoing project.
For this lot, cleaned and ripe cherries were placed in baskets in a temperature-controlled room to support the aerobic process for 24-36 hours. The basket holes allow for the free circulation of all oxygen and CO2 that are produced during fermentation. The coffee was then relocated to a mechanical drying system, maintaining a temperature between 35-40 degrees Celsius until reaching a moisture level of 10-11%. After drying, the coffee was de-hulled and packed in GrainPro bags to stabilise for 15 days, with each processed batch kept separate to ensure careful management of every phase.
Elevation: 1800 Meters Above Sea Level
Varietal: Castillo, Colombia, Caturra
Cup score: 87.5
Price paid per kg: £10.05 plus £1 donated per bag sold.
Process: Fully natural in mechanical cold dryers
Note: We paid a bit less than last year for this coffee, and would normally lower the price as a result. To support the earthquake donation, we've kept the price at £13.50 for 250g.
