Colombia - Nuevo Horizonte (2025)

Elmer Sarmiento is one of roughly 200 producers in the community of Santa María who sell coffee to Cuatro Vientos, our sourcing partners in Huila, Colombia. The location of Santa María in the north of the department has left it to fly under the radar, but we’re frequently tasting coffees from there that rival the very best lots from the better known districts of Pitalito or Acevedo.

Elmer calls his farm Nuevo Horizonte to represent the opportunities it will create for his family. The farm occupies around 2 hectares on some of the most extreme slopes that we’ve seen - with no access to the main road, coffee must be sent across the valley by garrucha, a sort of cable cart.

Most of the coffee that Elmer cultivates is pink bourbon, a variety that was first identified in Huila but seems to have more puzzling origins. Initially thought to be a local mutation of the common bourbon cultivar, recent genetic analysis has suggested that pink bourbon is actually an Ethiopian heirloom variety - and the cup profile supports this finding with its prominent citric and floral qualities. Nobody is certain how pink bourbon appeared in Huila, but our favorite theories point to a shuttered research center where coffee varieties from around the world were once studied.

Like many producers in Colombia, Elmer processes his coffee on the farm up until the point where it is fully dried in its parchment layer. He follows a traditional washed process, drying his coffee in one of the solar dryers typical of Colombian farms.

We began working with Cuatro Vientos about 5 years ago in search of dependable volume lots for Brooklyn and Flatiron. We’ve been consistently impressed with the high quality of the coffees coming from Santa María, and this year we wanted to identify a single producer who would demonstrate that quality well. Elmer’s was a standout on our visit to Huila earlier in the year, and now that it has arrived we are thrilled to share it with you.