Purple Caturra #2

If you’re intrigued by the edges of fermentation and flavor, Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia’s Purple Caturra from Monteblanco in Huila, Colombia might just change the way you think about washed coffee. This isn’t your typical clean cup. It’s the result of an intricate, passion fruit driven co-fermentation that pushes this coffee into bright, tropical territory.

The process begins long before the cherries are picked. Rodrigo and his team craft a mother culture with lactobacillus and saccharomyces cerevisiae, feeding it passion fruit, cholupa, and panela to mirror the Brix level of the incoming coffee. After 190 hours of fermentation, this vibrant culture is ready. Once the cherries arrive at Monteblanco, they’re pulped and introduced to the fruit culture in sealed tanks for another 150 hours of precision-monitored fermentation. Drying is equally deliberate: a few days in sun, followed by two weeks under shade, until everything hits just the right balance.

The result? A tropical symphony. The cup opens with passion fruit and pineapple – bright, juicy, and instantly engaging. Then stretches into layers of lush acidity and sweetness that feel both wild and refined.

This is a coffee for those chasing complexity, for drinkers who want fermentation to say something new without losing sight of clarity and craft. Rodrigo’s co-ferment technique isn’t a gimmick – it’s a bold, technical expression of terroir, varietal, and creativity.