Poppy Soda

Poppy Soda is a Pink Bourbon from Sebastián Ramírez at El Placer in Quindío, Colombia. It goes through a pretty elaborate washed process, but the cup itself is all about clarity. Lemonade, jasmine tea and ripe peach, with a bright, almost soda-like quality that makes the name make sense.

Sebastián Ramírez is a fourth-generation coffee producer at El Placer in Calarcá, Quindío. Poppy Soda is his Pink Bourbon, grown between 1650 and 2000 masl and taken through a multi-stage washed process involving anaerobic fermentation, immersion and two stages of controlled drying. There’s a lot happening in the processing, but the cup is remarkably clean: lemonade and jasmine tea up front, with ripe peach underneath.

El Placer is a 14-hectare farm in Calarcá, Quindío, run by fourth-generation producer Sebastián Ramírez. The coffee grows between 1650 and 2000 masl under native shade trees. Sebastián took over his family farm after leaving his law studies and gradually shifted part of its production towards specialty coffee.

Pink Bourbon, named for the pink colour of its ripe cherries. It’s one of several specialty varieties Sebastián grows at El Placer. In Poppy Soda, we find a delicate, bright expression with lemonade, jasmine tea and ripe peach.

The cherries first ferment anaerobically for 48 hours at 18°C with CO₂, followed by another 48 hours immersed in water with an oxygen pump. They are then pulped and washed before going through two controlled drying phases, first under canopy and then in a parabolic dryer.

Medium. There are several controlled stages here, including anaerobic fermentation, water immersion and two phases of drying. It’s more involved than a traditional washed process, but without added ingredients or co-fermentation.