Roasted by Pala Kaffebrenneri

Pala was started in Trondheim by Idar Ellingsen in 2018, and is run today together with Roy Davidsen. Idar has worked in specialty coffee since 2005, first as a barista and coffee shop manager, then as head roaster and QC manager for Jacobsen og Svart and Langøra before opening his own roastery. He is a certified Q grader and a two-time Norwegian cupping champion.

The stated aim at Pala is to move backwards in the value chain and influence the coffee earlier than the final step, working with importers who are transparent about traceability. Roasting is deliberately restrained: the idea is that the roast should not overwrite what the green coffee already has. Colombia is one of Idar’s own favourite origins, and Pala has worked with Colombian producers since the roastery opened.

They roast on a Diedrich IR-12, a 12 kg drum roaster that heats with infrared burners rather than an open flame, which gives a gentler, more even heat transfer than a conventional gas drum.

The producers

Maria and Wilson Medina are a husband-and-wife team farming in Huila, in southern Colombia. Huila sits between two branches of the Andes, and its combination of altitude, volcanic soil and a harvest split into a main crop and a smaller mitaca crop has made it the country’s most recognised specialty department.

At 1870 masl this is high ground for Colombian coffee. Cherries ripen more slowly at that elevation, which generally means denser beans and more acidity in the cup, and it is a large part of why this lot reads as crisp red apple rather than the soft caramel profile many associate with Colombian coffee.

About Pink Bourbon

Pink Bourbon has a contested history. It was long assumed to be a natural cross between Red and Yellow Bourbon, which is where the name came from, but genetic testing in recent years has instead linked it to Ethiopian landrace material, meaning it may not be a Bourbon at all. The name has stuck regardless.

What is not in dispute is how it cups. Pink Bourbon tends toward high aromatic intensity, pronounced florals and a syrupy sweetness that sits closer to a washed Ethiopian than to a classic Colombian. It has become sought after in Huila for exactly that reason, despite being harder work at the farm level.

Specifications