La Inmaculada Rare Variety #1 – Red Rooster Coffee

Red Rooster has been a favorite of mine for a long time and so when they launched their 12 days of Christmas back in November, I knew I had to purchase one of their special releases. I went with this rare variety (Laurina or Bourbon Pointu) from Colombia, which is one of only a handful of very small lots of this coffee grown in the world. The beans were incredibly long and pointy and are a mutation from Arabica coffee from Yemen. A fun fact about this variety is that it is much lower in caffeine than most Arabica varietals.

The coffee began with a fragrance of chocolate, nuts, subtle fruit and citrus. The flavor was sweet, but very mild with notes that reminded me of tropical fruit, citrus and chocolate. The body was smooth and almost creamy, but light. The acidity was muted, but most pronounced in the finish and once the coffee cooled to almost room temperature. The sweetness, which was pronounced and sugary, was likely my favorite attribute in the coffee. The aftertaste featured the lingering sugary sweetness and the extra sparkle of acidity.

The Bottom Line

This rare varietal featured an intense sweetness, which I enjoyed, but was a bit muted in flavor. I had to search to identify the full range of flavors and I would have enjoyed a bit more intensity. That said, it was an incredibly tasty and approachable cup of coffee and it is always fun to explore new types of coffee.