Pink Bourbon is a coffee variety from southern Colombia, named for the pink-orange colour of its ripe cherries, and known for a strikingly floral, fruity cup. Five-seven years ago almost nobody outside of Huila had heard of it. Today it's one of the most sought-after coffees in the specialty world — and one we've been buying, farm by farm, since before the rush.
Where it comes from
Pink Bourbon was first noticed by farmers in the Huila region of Colombia — a variety whose cherries ripen pink-orange rather than the usual red or yellow. For years it was assumed to be a natural cross between red and yellow Bourbon, hence the name. It isn't: DNA testing in 2017, and again in 2023 by Christophe Montagnon's team with Cafe Imports, found it to be an Ethiopian landrace with no Bourbon in it at all — which explains a lot about how it tastes. The name stuck anyway.
Whatever its ancestry, it found its home on the steep farms around San Agustín, Pitalito and Tarqui in southern Huila, where the altitude and climate let it ripen slowly.
Why it tastes the way it does
Pink Bourbon cups more like a Geisha than a Bourbon: intensely aromatic, floral, with red fruit and a sweetness that carries through a long finish. Our lots show rose hips, red berries, jam, forest fruit, passion fruit — different each harvest and each farm, but always that perfume. It's a variety that rewards light roasting and careful brewing; roast it dark and you lose everything that makes it special.
The farms behind our Pink Bourbon
This is a variety we know through the people who grow it.
Karen Burbano, Finca El Placer. Karen was given a piece of land by her parents when she finished school; she planted 2,000 Pink Bourbon trees and runs the farm herself. Anne first tasted her coffee at a cupping in Berlin, was so afraid someone else would buy it that she asked for the lot on the spot — and we've bought Karen's entire production every harvest since. Rose hips, red berries, aromatic. Finca El Placer →
Yaved Guarnizo and Yobani Ramos, Finca La Fuente. In the mountains above Tarqui, Yaved and Yobani grow Pink Bourbon alongside Geisha and Sidra on a farm Anne has visited twice a year since we started working together. Their washed Pink Bourbon: red berries, fruity, elegant. Finca La Fuente →
Sandra Milena Mora and Hector Coy, Finca El Porvenir. In Palestina, southern Huila, Sandra and Hector's Pink Bourbon lot shows mango, currants and lemonade — a brighter, juicier expression of the variety. Finca El Porvenir →
Three farms, three expressions of one variety — the best argument we know for why specialty coffee is sold by farm.
How to brew Pink Bourbon
Filter, not espresso, is where it shines — the aromatics need room. A V60 or another pour over method at a slightly lower dose than usual lets the florals come forward; let the cup cool a little before judging it, as the sweetness and fruit open up below 60 °C. V60 brew guide →
Why Pink Bourbon is having a moment
Partly because it genuinely tastes remarkable, and partly because it offers Geisha-like character at a price producers can actually grow it for. More and more producers are planting it every year.
New to all this? Start with What is specialty coffee? →
