What’s the point of pushing a boundary? My daughter is currently 10 going on 18 and I find myself asking this question not only in my personal/parenting life, but more broadly as well. Specifically in specialty coffee, there seems to be no shortage of pushing boundaries which should cause us (at least a little bit) some reflection on why that is. Is the boundary pushing related to technological advancement? Is the boundary pushing in service to highlighting disparities in the supply chain? Does coffee just lend itself to innovation because we are all so caffeinated? Is it some sort of catharsis for the individual? Or is it simply to show what’s possible?

Without getting too existential I think its sufficient to say that boundaries are necessary for any sort of creation (we need a frame!), but pushing those boundaries are equally necessary for advancement/growth. The pushing of the boundary, at the very least, causes you to question why you have it there in the first place. Whether you keep that boundary or not is an entirely different matter.

All of this relates to our latest release, Colombia Delagua as it has been, and continues to be a boundary-pusher in regards to flavor, and even the project itself.

The Delagua project is a sister company to La Palma y El Tucan, an innovative and wildly successful Colombian company producing some of the best coffees in all of Colombia and arguably the world. Building upon their expertise and success in processing of their own farms, they went to the community in La Sierra Nevada de Santa Maria in Colombia where water is scarce and they saw an opportunity process the coffees there with minimal water and high precision. In addition, the innovative processing results in a coffee with minimal environmental impact.

The resulting coffees are usually very complex and fruity but push the boundary of what is possible in imparting flavor.