LUIS ANIBAL

Luis Anibal Calderon – Colombia Natural Java

Flavour Characteristics

Best As: Filter Coffee / Black Espresso Drinks
Flavour Description: Fruit Jellies, Raspberry Jam, Black Cherry, Insanely Sweet, Chewy Body

Origin & Producer Details

Producer: Luis Anibal Calderon
Farm: Villa Betulia
Origin: Colombia
Region: Buenavista, Huila
Variety: Java
Process: Natural

Suitable For & Recommended Rest

SUITABLE FOR: ESPRESSO & FILTER BREW METHODS
BEST AS: ESPRESSO (Black & Milk based) & FILTER (Black)

Recommended rest: For the best tasting results, we recommend brewing this coffee 24–40 days off roast.

About This Coffee

This is the fourth year in a row that we have worked with Luis' coffees. We're always blown away by the quality we receive from Villa Betulia and this particular lot is no exception.

The Java Variety

Java is one of my all time favourite coffee varieties, and probably one of the coffee varieties that has the strangest cultivation journey of any variety that I've seen. Originally, Java delineates from an old Ethiopian Landrace called Abyssinia (most likely most closely related to the Typica family). From Ethiopia it was taken to Java (big shock) by the Dutch and mass cultivated in the early 19th century.

At some point during the 20th century, Java was brought to Cameroon by the Vilmorin company, where Pierre Bouharmont observed its notable resistance to CBD (Coffee Berry Disease). As such, a process of mass selection began, propagating the variety for almost 20 years. From there, it was introduced to Costa Rica, later spreading to many countries in South America, and eventually back to Ethiopia, completing a 200 year long game of ring around the Rosie. How fun!

The Producer: Luis Anibal Calderon

Luis Anibal is a second-generation coffee producer who has earned widespread respect and recognition for his pioneering processing techniques and his dedication to cultivating exotic coffee varieties in Colombia.

However, before achieving all this, Luis began as a 12-year-old labouring on his family's coffee farm. By the age of 15, his father granted him the opportunity to cultivate his own coffee on a small section of their land. From that modest beginning, his venture has blossomed into the 40-hectare estate known as Villa Betulia. Here, Luis cultivates numerous coffee varieties, including the beloved Java featured in this release.

Huila's Terroir

Huila is quite possibly my favourite growing region in all of Colombia, and is certainly regarded as one of the country's crowning jewels. Coffee farms in this region typically sit in that classic Arabica Goldilocks zone of 1200–1900 MASL.

The Andes mountain range provides cooler year round temperatures and abundant rainfall, allowing for slower ripening of the coffee cherries. This leads to a higher concentration of sugars, producing coffees that are incredibly complex, vibrant and sweet.

The region's volcanic soils and incredibly mineral rich terrain, in combination with stable year-round temperatures, create ideal conditions for producing exceptionally expressive cups.

Luis Anibal's Natural Processing

At Villa Betulia, Luis Anibal has become known for his experimental processing techniques that highlight the characteristics of rare coffee varieties. For his natural processing methods, only perfectly ripe cherries are hand picked, ensuring maximum sweetness and consistency in the lot, with each cherry containing an extremely high BRIX content.

After harvest, the whole cherries are spread out on raised drying beds where they are dried, turning regularly to promote even drying, controlled fermentation and to prevent any possible drying related defects, while promoting maximum consistency across the coffees.

This process produces coffees with an incredibly high sweetness, which in this coffee is expressed as black cherry and raspberry jam, alongside a signature rich, chewy body.

How to Brew This Coffee!

This coffee is exceptionally soluble, and gives up its soluble material very easily. At Harmony, we have played around with ratio and you can get excellent results with a 1:15 ratio.

• Rest window: Follow the recommended 24–40 days off roast for best clarity, flavour intensity and balance.
• Filter brewing: Start with a 1:15 ratio and a medium grind. If you're using good equipment, you won't under extract the coffee, even at fast brew times.
• Espresso: We have enjoyed this coffee best at between 1:2 - 1:2.2, brewed in about 30 seconds, where we achieve lots of jam-like characteristics and a syrupy body.
• Best recipe we've found: Orea v4, 16.5g coffee, 250g water, 2:20 brew time. I'm using a higher dose than usual on this coffee because it gives up its soluble material very easily, so we can get heaps of body out of this brew and enjoy that jammy sweetness.

Brewing Tips

Because this coffee is expressive and fruit-forward, accurate dose and yield help you hit the sweet spot. We strongly recommend using a reliable scale — see our guide, The Best Coffee Scales, and our bench favourite, the Felicita Parallel.

Explore other coffees

• Agua Fria - A gorgeous naturally processed Brazilian coffee, cultivated by Paulo Agualetti in Divinolandia, with flavours of Macadamia and Hobnobs.
  
• Kibaya — Rwanda washed Red Bourbon. A very high-clarity washed lot with citrusy and black tea characteristics.
• Arturo Arango - An incredibly complex thermal shock from Colombia, produced my superstar producer Arturo Arango. A very complex and vibrant Sidra with heaps of sweetness.
• Browse our single-origin coffees

FAQs

What does Natural Process coffee mean?

Natural process coffee is produced by drying the whole coffee cherry with the fruit still surrounding the seed. During drying, sugars and fruit compounds from the cherry are absorbed into the bean, producing coffees that are typically sweeter, more fruit-forward and fuller bodied than washed coffees.

What is the Java coffee variety?

Java is a rare Arabica coffee variety originally derived from Ethiopian landrace coffee known as Abyssinia. It was introduced to the island of Java by the Dutch in the 19th century before spreading across Africa and Central America. The variety is prized for its complex cup profile and notable resistance to Coffee Berry Disease.

What makes Huila coffee special?

Coffee from Huila, Colombia is known for its vibrant acidity, pronounced sweetness and expressive fruit character. Farms in the region typically sit between 1200 and 1900 metres above sea level, where cooler mountain temperatures and mineral-rich soils allow coffee cherries to ripen slowly and develop exceptional complexity.

How long should coffee rest after roasting?

Freshly roasted coffee releases carbon dioxide during the days and weeks after roasting. Allowing coffee to rest gives the coffee time to degas, which improves extraction and flavour clarity. For this coffee we recommend brewing between 24 and 40 days off roast for the best balance of sweetness, body and clarity.

Is this coffee better for espresso or filter?

This coffee works well for both brewing styles. As a filter coffee it highlights bright fruit flavours and a jam-like sweetness. As an espresso it produces a syrupy body with intense notes of black cherry and raspberry jam, working particularly well as a black espresso or with milk.

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