KURASU - Alexander Montealegre | Colombia - Washed - Castillo

This lot placed 14th at the Colombia Washed Coffee Festival and was sourced directly at origin.

At the competition, our local cupping notes were recorded as “Orange, Cherry, Clean cup, Lemongrass, Caramel,” and what stood out most to us was its clarity and overall balance. It doesn’t feature particularly unusual flavors, but the cup is exceptionally clean, with a long, lingering finish and a gentle, rounded profile that feels reassuring and easy to return to. When we cupped the coffee again after it arrived in Japan—following a journey of about six months—the clarity of the liquid remained, while the sweetness had gained more depth and weight, resulting in a more three-dimensional expression. It’s not flashy, but it has a solid volume of acidity and sweetness, beautifully balanced throughout. Somehow, it feels as though the strength of the land and the people we encountered at origin is reflected in the cup. This is very much a Kurasu-style coffee—one you’d want to drink every day.

Alexander-san is a producer we worked with for the first time through the exporter Fairfield Trading (FFT), and this is likely also the first year his coffee has been imported into Japan. He grows coffee in the San Agustín area of Huila. Some farmers working with FFT participate in chat groups where information such as parchment prices is shared, depending on the region, but Alexander-san was not part of any of these. Instead, after hearing about FFT’s representative Alejandro-san by word of mouth, he decided to submit his coffee to this competition. Beyond this lot, he cultivates several other high-quality coffees, and with a relatively large production volume at his farm, he is a producer we are very excited to follow in the years ahead.