El Placer Natural

Javier Alvear's family has been involved in coffee for generations, but the real breakthrough came when they planted their entire farm with Pink Bourbon and then the lesser-known Ají Bourbon. On the plantation, lying at 1,800 metres, these varieties flourish and produce a great harvest. The specialty coffee world noticed Ají Bourbon in 2021 when José Hermán Salazar took sixth place in the Cup of Excellence competition with a washed Ají lot. Ají means Chili Pepper in Spanish, which refers to the ripe cherries' colour and the coffee fruit's slightly spicy taste. According to the research by RD2 Vision, an organization specialising in coffee genetics and DNA fingerprinting led by Dr. Christophe Montagnon, Ají Bourbon, despite its name, is genetically not related to the Bourbon variety, but rather a mutation of an Ethiopian landrace that has not been identified so far.