The Three Coffee Farmers Honey Pink Bourbon

Ultralight (red) & Nordic Light (blue)

Marlon Bolaños and his other two brothers, Pedro and Hemerson, make up The Three Coffee Farmers project. The Bolaños family was already deeply rooted in coffee. Marlon took it once step further by enrolling in SENA, like Yessica Parra. Since graduating, Marlon, Pedro and Emerson continue to hone their practice. Marlon himself is only 21, but has already competed in (and won) barista competitions with their coffee and the same spring water they use to process their coffee on the farm. After just two years of their project, their names are already on their way to becoming commonplace in the extra light community, which is a testament to both, their marketing skills and the matched cup quality we see in all of the lots we got to try from The Three Coffee Farmers.

We have not found honey process Pink Bourbon as commonplace in the US coffee market. We're always interested to see how this process meshes with classic profile Pink Bourbon. Sometimes they clash, but on rare occasions, they can present as symbiotic. You'll have to judge for yourself. We are convinced. The sticky and wine-like mouthfeel of the honey process blends well with a strong stone fruit body, like peach gummy rings. It's supported by a beautiful "yellow" tropical acid. In the nordic, we find the cup is extra juicy and tropical. The ultralight is much softer, and far more floral. We think of white and yellow florals like jasmine, marigold, and bee balm. If you want to try both styles, check the A/B experiment page.

This coffee launched on July 1st as part of Drop 10!
Farm and Producer

After graduating SENA, Marlon has taken his new knowledge of specialty coffee into application on his family's farm alongside his two brothers. At just 21 years old, Marlon is a barista champion and quickly becoming a well-known coffee producer in Huila.

The Three Coffee Farmers is comprised of Hemerson (24), Pedro (23) and Marlon (21). Hemerson and Pedro manage most of the day-to-day farm maintenance, which leaves Marlon in charge of fermentation practice, sample prep, QC, and marketing. The Three Coffee Farmers project is just four years old. They grow Pink Bourbon, Chiroso, Geisha, Castillo, and Caturra at 1670 masl in Acevedo, Huila. They have just 10 Hectares and 10 employees during their harvest window in September to through November.
Coffee Varietal and Processing
Pink Bourbon was supposedly given its name because it was discovered for its pink cherries while growing in a field of bourbon plants. With that said, its genetic origin is Ethiopian Landrace and differs a bit from bourbon, and is probably closer in origin to other landrace-rooted varietals like Chiroso and Aji. Pink Bourbon is often sought over for having a vibrant tropical acidity, bold stone fruit or berry-like flavors and is often reminiscent of green tea.

In this lot, cherry selection occurs based on coffee cherry density. Selected cherries are added to closed tanks filled with water and fermented for two days. Later, they get de-pulped and fermented again (without water) for an additional two days. Coffee is left to dry on raised beds for 10-15 days.
Cost Transparency

Marlon and his brothers shared much of the same recipe that made we believe has made Yessica and Diego's coffee so great. Of course, they have their own originality too. They offer just as interesting of a diverse coffee menu, with varying coffee varietals and processing. We particularly gravitated towards their lots due to the lower length fermentation, and cleaner resultant cup profiles. Hearing their story and how focused they are at continuing to hone in on their craft made for an easy sell. We'd love to grow with Marlon, and have been making a continued effort to foster this relationship by chatting more and more over socials.

Green cost: $19.14/kg ($5/kg airship)
Package and roasting costs: $2.91/bag; $10/kg
Profile and sample use: ~0kg
Approx. Margin: --%
Brewing and Resting Recommendation

Resting: Wait 30 days for the Nordic and 40 days for the Ultralight to have a less gassy tasting experience. Degas the night before by opening bag and then sealing. We're impatient and think this has tasted peak flavor (but gassy) as early as 21 days after roast too.

We've primarily enjoyed this offering as a pourover.

Temperature range: 198-201°F
Water: Tap/Demineralized and Third Wave Water Light Roast
Grind Settings: Medium Coarse (700-750µm)
Target Drawdown Time: 2:45-3:00

4 Pour Recipe:
1. Pour 1/4 water every 30 seconds with high agitiation. Swirl the dripper on the bloom.

Sensory Feedback

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At Base Coat, we overshare everything. This page is dedicated to sharing our roasting insights and subsequent quality control so you can have the shared experience of (almost) everything that happened during the process of roasting this coffee -- but only if you care for it. Others just use this page as a fun way to see what references we found along the way before we finalized our bag notes. Some even just use this as a way to get to the product page or see brew and rest recommendations. We are very happy to support any of these use cases!