This is the enigmatic — and mildly controversial — "Pink Bourbon" cultivar. Both its provenance and even its very color are contested. While its membership in the Bourbon family makes it a direct heir to Typica and Ethiopian coffee genetics, there is some suggestion (especially in Colombia) that the "pink" variant is the product of incomplete breeding work done by the National Coffee Research Center. Anyone who has ever laid eyes on this curious cherry knows it isn't pink in the way that the Pink Panther is. It is perhaps closer to an orange, and in fact some coffee folk prefer to call it Orange Bourbon. Whatever you call it and whatever may be in its DNA, it's delicious!

While the debate over the origins of Pink Bourbon may be lively, it is mostly academic; the inability of Colombian growers to come to agreement on what it is and where it comes from haven't stopped them from planting it. It has taken off in recent years thanks to growing interest among baristas and buyers, and the work of exporters, including all three of our primary exporter partners in Colombia, who help the growers they support access seed.