SUMO - Papayo Pasiflora, Washed Co-Fermented, Colombia

Producer: Marlon Rojas Pérez

Farm: La Reserva

Region: Pitalito, Huila
Variety: Papayo
Process: Washed Co-Fermented
Altitude: 1720 masl
Harvested: 2025

Cupping notes: Tropical bomb like lychee, guava, mango, peach, passion fruit, and orange peel.

Another great coffee from Colombian Cup Tasters Champion Marlon Rojas. A third-generation producer, Marlon left a career as a commercial pilot to join his uncles at La Reserva, their family farm in Pitalito, Huila. Together they focus on intentional processing and rare Colombian varieties.

The Papayo variety takes its name from the papaya-like shape of the cherry, a natural mutation that gives the plant extra resistance to pests like broca. Once believed to be a Caturra mutation, it’s now considered more closely related to Ethiopian landrace varieties. It’s still rare, mostly grown in Huila, and has become one of those exciting “new classics” in Colombia - like Pink Bourbon and Ombligón - that are beginning to appear more often on competition stages.

This lot underwent 24 hours of submerged aerobic whole-cherry fermentation. It was then pulped and placed in barrels for a 60-hour anaerobic fermentation, inoculated with musts from passionflower-family fruits: 50% passion fruit and 50% cholupa.