COLOMBIA JOSE HERMAN SALAZAR

Recommended Retail Price: £16.50/250g

Tasting Notes: An expressive coffee with bright citrus zest and granny smith apple. Layers of blackcurrant and caramel emerge as it cools, finishing with sweet, lingering spiced biscuit.

Region: Pitalito, Huila
Altitude: 1,745 m.a.s.l.
Variety: Ají
Processing: washed

UK Arrival: February 2026

This unique coffee is one of a host of newly “discovered” Ethiopian landrace varieties being grown in Colombia. Several years ago Salazar noticed the cherries from some plants had a distinctive chili pepper aroma. The samples cupped exceptionally well so he propagated them and named the variety Ají, which means pepper in Spanish. 

Salazar and his wife Marina run their farm, La Guaca, together as a family operation along with their daughter Blanca and son Johan. The family began focusing on specialty coffee in 2015 and in 2021 one of their Ají lots placed 6th in the Cup of Excellence competition. Today, Salazar oversees operations and cherry picking and Blanca handles records and farm administration. Their teamwork has made them more efficient and brought them closer as a family. 

Coffee

The Salazars take great care in processing their coffee. After selective picking, cherries are floated to remove defects, pulped without water and fermented for 36 to 50 hours in sealed containers. The beans are then washed, cleaned mechanically and dried on covered patios for 15 to 20 days. 

Producer

Salazar is originally from Nariño but moved to Huila looking for a better life. After being invited by a friend to work on a coffee farm he discovered a passion for coffee cultivation and decided to buy his own farm where he initially planted Caturra. Over the years he has transitioned to other varieties. Today his farm grows 30% Pink Bourbon, 10% Castillo and 60% Ají. 

“This coffee represents a family effort and we are committed to preserving the Bourbon Aji variety to showcase its quality to the world,” Salazar says. “It’s a variety born on this farm, thriving in our altitude and region.”

Region

La Guaca is located in southern Huila in an area called Pitalito. It’s a bustling agricultural hub and coffee plays a vital role as one of the region’s most significant crops. Pitalito draws people looking for better opportunities from all over Huila and neighbouring regions, Cauca and Putumayo. 

Importer

This coffee was imported by Caravela, from whom we buy many of our coffees. Caravela played a key role in bringing the Aji variety to market when they did genetic testing on Salazar’s coffee and discovered that it is an Ethiopian landrace variety, and not part of the Bourbon family. The story of this coffee is similar to Pink Bourbon, which, as the name suggests, was originally thought to be a Bourbon coffee, but actually is more closely related to Ethiopian Heirloom.