Colombia Huila Monteblanco Purple Caturra Passionfruit Co-fermented

High above Pitalito in southern Huila, the road climbs through Vereda La Tocora until it reaches a hilltop farm called Monteblanco. Here, third-generation producer Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia grows a coffee that ripens not red but deep purple, then carries it through one of Colombia's most deliberate fermentations.

OriginColombia RegionHuila, San Adolfo Elevation1,730m ProcessWashed, Passionfruit Co-fermented VarietyPurple Caturra The Source

A Hilltop Farm in Southern Huila

Finca Monteblanco spreads across 18 hectares on the crest of a hill in the San Adolfo municipality, above the coffee town of Pitalito. The wet mill and drying beds sit at the top of the farm, with rows of coffee planted down the slopes below. Huila is widely regarded as one of Colombia's finest growing departments, its high ridges and volcanic soils producing cups known for sweetness and clarity. At 1,730 meters, cherries here ripen slowly, building the dense sugars and structured acidity that define high-altitude coffee.

Rodrigo Sanchez Valencia farms land his family has worked for three generations, and his approach blends inherited knowledge with constant experimentation. The Purple Caturra growing at Monteblanco is a rare phenotype of the Caturra variety, first noticed in Huila when only a small fraction of planted trees ripened to a deep purple instead of red. Rodrigo selected and propagated those trees, building a distinct lot from a quirk of genetics that most producers would have overlooked.

The Craft

A Culture Built From Fruit

This lot is a co-fermented washed coffee, and the work begins before the cherries enter the tank. Rodrigo's team builds a mother culture carrying specific strains of lactobacillus and saccharomyces cerevisiae, then feeds it with passion fruit, local cholupa fruit, and natural sweeteners. That culture ferments for roughly 190 hours, until it reaches target Brix and pH readings. Only then are floated, pulped cherries introduced into a sealed tank with the culture for a second controlled fermentation near 150 hours, with parameters held above set Brix and pH thresholds the entire time. The result is a washed coffee where the passion fruit reads as part of the cup rather than an additive. To understand how this method differs from standard approaches, see our guide to washed and natural processing methods.

After fermentation and washing, cherries dry first in direct sun for two to three days, then move under shaded canopies for 15 to 18 days until they settle near 10 to 11 percent moisture. We roast the green coffee to City+ in small batches at our solar-powered Virginia Beach roastery, holding the development just short of where roast character would cover the fruit. The goal is a measured curve that lets both the Purple Caturra and the fermentation speak.

Passion Fruit Milk Chocolate Toffee Green Apple BodyMedium-Full AcidityBright The Cup

Tropical Clarity, Anchored

The passion fruit arrives first and arrives clearly, a tropical brightness that runs through the whole cup rather than sitting on top of it. A flash of green apple sharpens the acidity, while a sturdy base of milk chocolate and toffee gives the coffee weight and keeps it balanced. As the cup cools, the fruit softens and the sweetness deepens, rewarding a slower drink.

Find Your Fix

A pour-over on the Chemex or V60 gives the passion fruit and green apple the most room to show, while a careful Aeropress or drip batch leans into the chocolate and toffee weight. Browse the full lineup of coffee beans, dial in your grind, and find your fix.

Roasted in small batches at our Virginia Beach roastery.

Packaged in reusable glass mason jars, returned locally for reuse. Solar-roasted.

Virginia Beach, VA