Colombia Javier Rubio San Bernardo
Javier Rubio San Bernardo
- Variety: San Bernardo (Dwarf Typica Mutation)
- Country: Colombia
- Region: El Libano, Gaitania, Tolima
- Process: Modern Washed
- Altitude: 1,600–1,750 MASL
- Producer: Javier Rubio
- Farm: El Libano
- Roast Level: Light-Medium
in the cup In the cup we taste crisp red apple, sweet sugar cane, and intense florals with a distinctive umami depth. This coffee has exceptional clarity and a refined, lingering finish — a true reflection of its rare Typica heritage.
about the producer Javier Rubio grows coffee in Southern Tolima, near the border with Huila — a region shaped by and deeply woven into the speciality coffee movement. A Cup of Excellence finalist (3rd place, 2008), Javier is part of a community of agile, empowered producers farming small plots of fertile land at altitude. Colombia's mountainous terrain and diverse microclimates create the conditions for an exceptional flavour spectrum, and the concentration of small farms — many between 1 and 3 hectares — means individual care and attention at every stage.
processing San Bernardo is processed using a modern washed method with extended underwater fermentation, a technique that highlights the variety's natural clarity and floral complexity. Javier's farm includes its own wet mill, where the coffee is pulped, fermented, and washed on-site before being dried — giving him full control over quality from cherry to cup.
variety San Bernardo is a dwarf mutation of heirloom Typica, first discovered in Guatemala in 1949. Grown by only a handful of farms worldwide due to its extreme susceptibility to coffee leaf rust and notably low yields, it rewards those willing to take the risk with extraordinary cup quality — floral complexity, high clarity, and the hallmark characteristics of its prized Typica lineage.