If you’ve been enjoying our coffee for a while, chances are you’ve come across Buenos Aires – a Colombian coffee (despite the name!) with notes of red plum and a crisp, citrussy acidity. Often making up one half of our Fruit & Nut Espresso blend, providing the ‘fruit’ element, it’s a firm favourite that we’ve been buying for five years!

In 2018, Will headed back to the farm to meet up with José Ramone Collazos and Maria Del Rosario – the powerhouse farming couple that produces Buenos Aires. Sitting in their house at the top of the mountain, enjoying dinner, they started chatting coffee… and Maria let slip that she had her own farm, that she had owned since before she married José. Will had to see this.

This farm was Bella Vista and, when it ended up on the next blind cupping table, it exceeded all Will’s expectations. Not that that’s surprising – years of working with Maria and José Ramone has shown the love, skill and hard work that they put into growing coffee.

The only strange thing is that, for a farm using such similar varieties and the same processing and drying techniques, the flavour profile is completely different. Bella Vista has notes of sweet white chocolate and toffee, with a mild lemon acidity and lingering vanilla aftertaste. We know, sounds delicious right? And very different to Buenos Aires, but it’s all down to a difference in terroir.

What does that mean? Well, it all comes down to [soil, climate and elevation](https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2018/03/what-is-terroir-and-why- does-it-matter/) – different minerals in the earth the trees grow from can impact the flavours inherent in a coffee bean, and altitude can affect sweetness and acidity. So one couple using almost identical farming practices can create two totally different coffees, just depending on where the farmland is.

If you want to try Maria’s own coffee, Bella Vista will be available from the 5th February – it’s definitely one to look out for.