This coffee comes from Finca Las Flores in Acevedo, Huila, Colombia, at 1,700-1,780 meters elevation. The variety is Ombligon, a relatively new variety believed to be closely related to heirloom Ethiopian varieties with shared lineage from Caturra, Pacamara, and Bourbon. It features leaf rust resistance. The processing method is Anaerobic Thermal Shock, involving an 18-hour fermentation in bags, 36-hour anaerobic fermentation in barrels, pulping, another 48-hour anaerobic fermentation, and a 35°C thermal shock wash before drying on solar parabolic canopy dryers for 12-15 days. The farm is operated by the third-generation Vergara brothers and spans over 14.5 hectares with 90,000 coffee trees. Flavor notes include pomegranate, musk sticks, and passionfruit.
Monastery Coffee was founded in 2013 in Adelaide by Adam Marley, Daniel Milky, and Nader Shahin, three friends with university backgrounds in economics, finance, and geophysics. They roast on a 12 kilogram Diedrich using Cropster software from a characterful shed within a shed structure in a semi industrial area northeast of the city. Sourcing is serious here, with green beans coming through Melbourne Coffee Merchants, Cafe Imports, Handpickers, and others, and Adam has personally traveled to Burundi to work with the Long Miles Coffee Project. By 2020, 73% of their coffee came from smallholder farmers working five hectares or less, and every wholesale partner receives farmer cards with photos and origin stories.
