ALEXANDER VARGAS - COLOMBIA

We are excited to introduce you to Alexander Vargas, a coffee producer from Palestina in the Huila region of Colombia. Alexander began working with coffee when he was only 15 years old, following in the footsteps of his parents and learning the work of coffee production from a young age. By the time he was 20, Alexander had begun focusing his attention on specialty coffee and has now spent more than two decades continuing to learn, experiment, and improve the quality of the coffees he produces. His 10-hectare farm, La Piragua, sits high in the mountains of Huila and has become a place where his family’s coffee tradition and Alexander’s curiosity for what is possible in coffee come together. One of the things that makes Alexander such an interesting producer is his willingness to experiment with both unique coffee varieties and different processing methods. Over the years he has worked with coffees like Pink Bourbon and Gesha and has received multiple nominations in Colombia’s Cup of Excellence competition. He has even built his own coffee lab at La Piragua, allowing him to cup and evaluate his coffees directly on the farm. This gives Alexander the ability to better understand how decisions made during cultivation and processing ultimately affect the quality and flavor of the coffee. This particular lot is a Striped Red Bourbon, a unique Bourbon variety that immediately caught our attention. After harvest, the whole coffee cherries undergo a natural process and are fermented for 60 hours in airtight barrels. The cherries are then slowly dried for 18 days before the coffee is prepared for export. This combination of variety and processing creates a coffee with a wonderful balance of sweetness and fruit character, with notes of dried fruit, raisin, citrus, and sugarcane. Alexander’s work at La Piragua is ultimately rooted in both tradition and curiosity. He continues to honor the knowledge passed down through his family while searching for new ways to improve his coffee and share what he has learned with younger farmers in his community. This commitment to learning, experimentation, and quality is exactly what excites us about working with producers like Alexander, and we are very excited to finally share his coffee with you.