The Regional Select Program was created to highlight the unique profiles we have found that are inherent to specific microregions within Colombia. The regions we are focusing on are Huila, Nariño, Cauca and Tolima. The primary difference between the Microlot Program and Regional Select is the pre-shipment cupping score.
During the harvest season, growers from within certain communities—for instance, Cauca, Tolima, Huila, and Nariño in Colombia—have their coffees cupped and scored for potential inclusion in a “Regional Select” lot, a coffee that scores between 84–86 points and displays characteristics indicative of its growing region. (Inzá is a microregion within Cauca.) We think that the terroir or soil, sun weather, and placement on the planet contribute largely to the flavor of these coffees, when they are picked ripe and handled properly. These coffees are selected by cup and then blended, like a Rhone wine or a local honey that comes many fields in a 4-mile radius.
Coffees that score above 87 points are selected out as microlots; coffees hitting 90 and above become candidates for our ACES program. Comprising multiple coffees from smallholder farmers within the coffee-growing communities, Regional Select coffees offer producers a quality premium that encourages investment and development into future years' yields, while also bringing to market some of the best and most articulate tastes of place the world has to offer.