Colombia Luis Anibal Ethiopian Natural

Tamarind (asam), sweet pineapples & molasses

This was a unique and historical project taken by Luis Anibal where Ethiopian heirloom coffee seeds were first brought into Colombia to grow. The result of this is the characteristics Ethiopian fruity sweetness compounded with the signature Colombian terroir notes of sweet chocolates. The appearance of the coffee is interesting, departing from the tiny Ethiopian heirloom and taking on a bigger size resembling the Java variety.

Don Luis Anibal Calderon is no stranger to Parchmen & Co customers because we have featured his coffee regularly. He has made a name for himself producing coffees from special fermentation methods that exhibit clean flavours without the over-fermented sourness that overshadows such methods in recent years.

The Ethiopian heirloom coffee is cultivated at Villa Betulia same as his Pink Typica. That is also his family home, where he lives with his wife and 3 sons. He first purchased the land in 2005 and began planting specialty coffee varieties in 2012, starting with 5,000 Geisha trees on 5% of his farm. Ten years later, it was apparent to Luis Anibal that returns from cultivating Geisha were worth the extra effort. He decided to dedicate his entire farm to more delicate and rare specialty varieties,. Today, Villa Betulia is planted with a wide range of specialty varieties including Red, Pink and Yellow Geisha, Tabi, Java, Sidra, Striped Bourbon, Maragogype, Pacamara, Marageisha and several varieties of dwarf Geisha, and now also Ethiopia Heirloom. 

Ethiopia heirloom is the coffee variety thus named as a form of respect to its status being the venerable earliest form of arabica coffee. In fact, it is more correctly referred to as local landraces, which are wild forms undergoing domestication and yet to stabilise into a cultivar. This means the genes are diverse and their distribution is sporadic, giving rise to a spectrum of flavour profiles from area to area, farm to farm and even within the farm. It was estimated that there are 10,000 to 15,000 heirloom varieties. Ethiopia coffee forests and farmlands are like a natural genetic bank of arabica coffee. It is then no surprise that we are treated with a galore of complex enzymatic fruity and floral flavours. 


Roast Level
We have roasted this coffee to medium light with a relatively short development of 1 min 15 sec. With this roast profile, we managed to uncover some unique notes familiar to Singapore but yet will come as a total surprise to Colombians and Ethiopians,


Brew Flavour
We are brewing this coffee using 14g to 220ml of 92°C water at 800 µm grind size. We are using the Timemore Crystal Ice V60 using Cafec TH-1 paper. The grounds smell reminds you of southeast Asian fruits, and on closer attention, it hits us as durian cake! The delicious profile is fullest when it is warm, when notes of asam and cempedak are obvious, against a base note of vibrant pineapple-like acidity and juicy mouthfeel. These notes give way to the aroma of the Colombian terroir of chocolates and molasse in the ending. This carries into the afterflavour, which is clean for a natural coffee, juicy and smooth. Perhaps what is to Colombian cuppers as floral is cempadek to us. We are treated to a very usual coffee which crosses two coffee lands and a flavour profile that spans the east and the west. This is our recipe, in one bloom and one pour:

14g for 220ml
0-15 sec: Pour 50g of water
30-80 sec: Add 170g


On the espresso, with 19g dose to 38g beverage weight, at an extraction ratio of 2, the profile from the filter brew becomes more pronounced and more integrated, featuring asam and dark chocolate, ending with a hint of pineapple. On the white, you will get a comforting cup of chocolates with a curious note of asam and cempedak. This is not an overpowering coffee that you drink once in a while but is an everyday coffee you can enjoy throughout the day. We are currently serving this coffee as espresso at Pacto by Parchmen.

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