Size: 250g

Flavour Notes

Strawberry, Grape, Brown Sugar

Key Highlights

• Neira, Caldas, Colombia
• 1650–2000 masl
• Catiope variety (Caturra × Ethiopian landrace)
• Natural Process, dried on patios
• Fruit-forward, sweet, and vibrant
• Ideal for filter brewing

Specifications / Coffee Details

• Producer: Rodrigo Pelaez
• Farm: Laderas del Tapias
• Origin: Neira, Caldas, Colombia
• Process: Natural, patio-dried
• Variety: Catiope
• Altitude: 1650–2000 masl
• Format: Whole Bean
• Size: 250g

STRAWBERRY · GRAPE · BROWN SUGAR

A weird little Colombian variety with Ethiopian genetics, grown high in the mountains and dried whole under the sun.

Laderas del Tapias sits in the Tapias River Canyon in Neira, Caldas, where coffee has been growing since the 1930s. The Pelaez family has owned the farm since 1980, with Rodrigo Pelaez shifting its focus toward specialty coffee in 2014.

The farm itself is big,  106 hectares split across four plots: Buenos Aires, Puerto Rico, La Graciela, and Villa Inés. It sits between 1,650 and 2,000 masl within Colombia's Coffee Cultural Landscape and has become home to plenty of experimental lots and less-common varieties.

Which brings us to Catiope.

Catiope is a Colombian cross between Caturra and an Ethiopian landrace. Even the name is basically a mash-up of the two: CA(turra) + (e)TIOPE. It’s still relatively uncommon, combining some of Caturra’s clean structure with the aromatic, fruit-driven character you’d expect from its Ethiopian genetics.

For this lot, Rodrigo keeps the processing pretty straightforward. The cherries are dried whole on patios, allowing the coffee to slowly develop sweetness and fruit character without piling on a complicated fermentation recipe.

Strawberry leads the cup, followed by ripe grape and a deeper brown sugar sweetness underneath. It’s bright and fruit-forward without getting sharp, with a rounded body and enough sweetness to keep everything very easy to drink.

Why We Chose This Coffee

Sometimes the interesting thing about a coffee is what happened to it. Sometimes it’s what the coffee was to begin with.

This one is the latter.

Catiope grown at 1,650–2,000 masl and naturally processed was already enough to get our attention. What made us buy it was how cleanly everything came through in the cup. Lots of fruit, lots of sweetness, and none of the muddiness that naturals can occasionally bring along for the ride.

It’s a slightly weird variety grown very well and processed simply.