RODRIGO OYUELA - Colombia

Producer – Rodrigo Oyuela

Process – Washed 

Varietal – Pink Bourbon

Origin – Colombia

Tasting Notes – Apricot, Caramel, Milk Chocolate

Notes:

Rodrigo Oyuela wears many hats—he’s the founder and current president of the COAGROHERMOSAS association, and a respected figure in the Cañón de las Hermosas region. Known for his strong leadership and deep knowledge of agronomy, Rodrigo has a real talent for producing high-yield coffee. But what really sets him apart is how he’s built his business as a family effort.

Coffee has always been part of Rodrigo’s life. He grew up around it and eventually started buying farms of his own. Unfortunately, some of those early farms didn’t perform well—he blames poor soil and tricky climate conditions—so he ended up selling most of them.

Then came Villamaría, the farm he owns today. He didn’t have enough money to buy it outright, but the previous owner offered a generous deal: Rodrigo could pay it off slowly through the income from his coffee. That motivated him to sharpen his growing skills, and he’s come a long way since.

To improve quality and value, Rodrigo began experimenting with exotic coffee varieties—most notably Pink Bourbon, which he sourced from Acevedo, Huila. Today, his farm covers 33.5 hectares, with 8 of those planted in coffee (about 38,000 trees in total). He grows Pink Bourbon, Castillo, and Colombia varieties.

How Rodrigo Processes His Pink Bourbon

Rodrigo is serious about picking only the ripest cherries, and he backs it up by paying a premium—an extra 2,000 COP (about $0.50 USD) for every 12.5 kg of perfectly ripe cherries, with no underripe or green ones in the mix.

Once the cherries are picked, he lets them rest for 12 to 14 hours in an oxidation stage, depending on the weather. Then he runs them through a pulping machine that also removes the mucilage. But instead of throwing that sticky “honey-water” away, Rodrigo saves it.

Here’s the twist: he takes the beans and puts them into GrainPro bags along with the collected mucilage and honey-water for a 22-hour fermentation. After that, he washes the coffee twice with clean water.

Drying is just as intentional. Rodrigo uses a Casa-Elda—a kind of drying room with a sliding roof—and stretches the drying process out over 10 to 15 days. If the sun gets too intense, he closes the roof to keep things slow and steady. It’s all about preserving the quality of the final cup.