Colombia
Huila
Why altitude matters
Higher farms grow slower, denser coffee, usually brighter and more complex.
Coffee grows in the tropics, and the higher it's planted the cooler the nights. Cooler air slows the cherries as they ripen, so the seeds inside build more sugars and acids before they're picked. That usually means a denser bean and a livelier cup: more fruit and florals up high, more chocolate and nuts lower down.
It's a guide, not a rule. Distance from the equator, shade and soil change it too, which is why the same height can taste different in Brazil and in Ethiopia.
1500–2100 m: Higher than Te Ahu Pātiki / Mount Herbert, Banks Peninsula (919 m), lower than Ben Lomond, Queenstown (1748 m).
When it was picked
Coffee is a seasonal crop: the fresher the harvest, the livelier the cup.
Coffee is picked once or twice a year, at different times in each country. Green coffee is at its best in the months after it's processed and slowly fades over the following year, so we buy each season's crop and roast it to order.
How we roast it
Medium-light, roasted for all methods.
Modern, origin-led and crisply expressive
Bright profiles with minimal roast-imparted character, drawn from the highest-grade lots. Equally at home as an espresso or a batch brew.
Roasting turns a hard green seed into something you can brew. Lighter roasts keep more of the coffee's own acidity and fruit; darker ones trade it for body, caramel and cocoa, and stand up well to milk.
We check the colour of every roast with an Agtron reading: the higher the number, the lighter the roast.
How it was processed
How washed coffee is usually processed
- Picked ripe
- Sorted and floated
- Pulpedskin and most of the fruit off
- Fermented in tanks, about 12–48 hours, until the sticky layer loosens
- Washed clean
- Dried on raised beds or patios, 10–20 days
- Rested, then hulled
In the cup Clean and clear: the place and the variety come through first, with bright, defined acidity.
More about WashedRoasted in ŌtautahiIn stock at C4 HQ
Led by chocolate, a cocoa note. How we taste
The most prominent note leads
We list notes as they stand out, the most prominent first. Each sits in a family, from the broad group out to the specific note, as on the SCA Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel.
All our flavour families
- Cocoa Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Cacao Nib, Hazelnut
- Smoky Tobacco, Cereal, Toasted, Ashy
- Floral Jasmine, Rose, Chamomile, Black Tea
- Fruity Berry, Dried Fruit, Tropical, Stone Fruit
- Citrus Lemon, Orange, Grapefruit, Lime
- Sweet Caramel, Honey, Brown Sugar, Vanilla
The most prominent note we tasted was chocolate, in cocoa.
Every coffee brews every way
Brew any of our coffees any way you like. Its notes are what we taste brewed the way we built it around; another way brings out others.
Washed Clarity coffees change the most between methods. Coffees whose processing has brought a flavour forward, like a co-ferment, hold it however you brew them.
A note is what we taste
A tasting note is a flavour we find in the cup: at the coffee's age on the day, on our water and recipe. We add no flavourings, and notes are never ingredients or allergens. Taste it weeks later, on other water or another brewer, and the notes will move. And a note is never the whole cup: two coffees can share one and taste nothing alike. A House coffee with citrus is still roast first, the citrus sitting inside a rich, rounded cup; in a Clarity coffee, the citrus is the cup.
- Chocolate, Caramel & Orange Cocoa
Modern. Origin-led and crisply expressive. Bright profiles with minimal roast imparted character, drawn from the highest-grade lots. Equally at home as an espresso or a batch brew.
Roast Medium-light Roasted for all methods Why it matters
How we roast it
Lighter keeps more of the coffee's own fruit; darker brings body and chocolate.
Roasting turns a hard green seed into something you can brew. Lighter roasts keep more of the coffee's own acidity and fruit; darker ones trade it for body, caramel and cocoa, and stand up well to milk.
We check the colour of every roast with an Agtron reading: the higher the number, the lighter the roast.
C4 Brew Guide
The recipes we use every day at our roastery café, simple on purpose: water, ratio, grind. Treat them as a starting point, and adjust to what you taste and what your equipment gives you.
How we'd brew it.
For most grinders and most machines. Balanced, and as good black as with milk. Longer than the classic 1:2: at our roast level, 1:2.5 extracts fully and balances the cup, opening it up without thinning it.
A longer ratio at lower pressure, over a shorter shot, for more clarity and acidity.
A note on equipment. 1:3 relies on flat burrs that grind very evenly. On an E65, E80 or Mythos it often tastes watery; if it does, go back to 1:2.5.
Brewed on
- Pre-infusion 2 bar, about 1–2 g/s until the first 1 g (20–40 s)
- Extraction 6 bar, about 5–6 g/s to 18 g
- Post-infusion 2 bar, about 1–2 g/s to 54 g
- 40 s to 1:20 Done
For machines with pressure or flow control: three stages.
Brewed on
- 0:00 Pour to 50 g at 8 g/s
- 0:30 Pour to 100 g at 8 g/s
- 1:00 Pour to 250 g at 3 g/s, very slow
- 2:30–3:00 Done
- 0:00 Pour to 50 g at 8 g/s
- 0:30 Pour to 120 g at 8 g/s
- 1:00 Pour to 190 g at 3 g/s, very slow
- 1:30 Pour to 250 g at 3 g/s, very slow
- 2:30–3:00 Done
Water
Nearly all of the cup is water, and what's in it changes from city to city and season to season.
If your tap water is hard (above about 150 ppm), brew with a soft bottled water nearer 50 ppm; too soft is better than too hard.
If a cup tastes flat or chalky whatever you change, check the water before the recipe.
Adjusting a recipe
These are starting points: keep them simple (water, ratio, grind), then adjust to taste and to your kit.
If a filter tastes thin, dry or harsh, add a gram or so of coffee (15 g to 16–16.5 g) and keep the water the same.
If a long espresso tastes watery, shorten the ratio (1:3 to 1:2.5) before you change the grind.
Taste every shot: how it looks coming out says little about how it tastes, and skimming the crema off often makes a light-roast espresso sweeter.
Keeping it fresh
Coffee keeps best sealed, cool and dark, and frozen keeps longest.
Seal single doses and freeze them; grind straight from the freezer, and don't thaw and refreeze.