Each week Alterra Coffee Roasters (Milwaukee, WI) offers a special coffee/espresso by the pound or cup. This week they are presenting beans from their Featured Farm Series: Colombia Huila Reserva.

Alterra’s Featured Farm Series was created as a way to recognize the efforts of the farmers that work hard to produce the best coffees and do what we love to do the most – connect people who want to drink great coffees with the farmers who produce them.

Colombia Huila Reserva

An Alterra-exclusive from the main-crop harvest in the department of Huila, this coffee is a blend of a few of our highest-scoring El Castillo lots and represents some of the best Colombian coffee we purchased in 2010.  Harvested from mostly Caturra variety coffee trees at a few farms surrounding the city of Pitalito in South Huila, this blend was created to showcase the wonderful flavors from this past harvest.  Juicy, sweet-tart acidity compliments a pleasing, buttery mouthfeel and flavors suggesting, cola, cherry, and sweet lemon.  Enjoy!

Espresso Notes from Colin Whitcomb, Alterra Barista Trainer

Colombia Huila Reserva: Featured Espresso

Get ready for a top-notch espresso this week. Huila is a department in southwest Colombia, and we have blended some of our best tasting coffees from this region. Coffee from farmers like German Valenzuela Gomez, Heberto Calderon, and six others of a similar caliber are blended together here. These are some of the best tasting lots from our El Castillo project in Colombia. Alterra barista, Cody Kinart, will be using coffee from one of the Huila farmers in the U.S. Barista Championship next week in Houston, which is a sign that this coffee can hold its own among the best in the world.

All of our Colombian coffee is the result of a great relationship with our exporter in Colombia. Coffees are cupped at origin as well as by us here in Milwaukee. These are simply the top tier of those coffees, which are mostly Caturra, and all are washed and sun-dried.

Layers of fruit, sweetness, subtle spices and a lithe body contribute to a complex and pleasant espresso. A stunning espresso to drink, this is the perfect remedy for a gray Spring day.