MEET THE PRODUCER | La Palma Y El Tucán is a longtime friend of the Black & White family, and if you've been around here awhile, you've likely seen their name printed on several of our labels over the years. La Palma is run by husband-wife power duo Felipe and Elisa Sardi, and their vision for "better coffee, better practices, and a better world" began to come into focus when they purchased 18 hectares of land in the Cundinamarca region of Colombia over thirteen years ago. That vision has always rested on two pillars: community, and quality.

This commitment to community and their obsession with processing perfection are two of the reasons La Palma features so prominently on our menu. But, they also keep coming around because you guys love their coffees - and we love sharing them with you! Last year, we had the immense pleasure of sending four of our very own roasters to the gorgeous place that is La Palma Y El Tucán. There, they were able to experience the magic of La Palma firsthand, gaining a better understanding of the process by which these coffees make their way from the soil to our coffee cups.

TRUST THE PROCESS | This unique adaptation of processing, known as Bioinnovation, was developed by La Palma's own Sebastian Villamizar, who was inspired by traditional wine fermentation methods. For this particular adaptation, clay pots are buried in the forest floor to control fermentation temperature. Inside, perfectly ripe coffee cherries are mixed with a microbial-rich compost that is made at La Palma and serves as an organic and biodiverse fermentation substrate. The coffee cherries in this lot underwent anaerobic fermentation in those claypots for 107 hours before being removed to an aerobic environment for an additional 36 hours, this time for mucilage oxidation. After being thoroughly rinsed, the coffee was spread out to dry on raised beds for 31 days, until a moisture content of 10% was achieved.

TAKE A SIP | Our love affair with the Gesha variety is certainly no secret, and one sip of this coffee makes us fall in love all over again. When hot, the coffee is intensely floral but in a delicate sort of way, like lilies. Complex citrus and subtle stone fruit, like fresh white peaches, are readily present at this temperature. A lovely vanilla note lends the coffee a confectionary-like sweetness.

As the coffee approaches a pleasantly warm temperature, the acidity becomes more vibrant and the texture more velvety. White peach persists while subtle tropical notes, like mango, begin to emerge. Paired with complex citrus, the sweetness here becomes less confectionary and more structured, reminding us of lemon candy.

When cool, both sweetness and acidity peak in structure, but the coffee remains quite delicate and nuanced. A new stone fruit - red plum - enters the chat. Throughout the entire sipping experience, this coffee drinks like oolong tea in all the best ways. It's a stunning example of a Gesha coffee grown in Colombia, standing up to and even outshining some of its Panamanian counterparts.

In summary, we're not saying this coffee is perfect... but it's pretty darn close.

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Origin | Cundinamarca, Colombia

Producer | La Palma Y El Tucán

Farm | La Palma Y El Tucán

Process | Lactic

Variety | Gesha

Elevation | 1710-1770 masl