Colombia Andres Cardona
Andres started working in coffee when he was only twelve years old. In 2018 he took a specialty coffee course run by the Antioquia government and came home to start experimenting with how he processed his own harvest. La Ilusión has been in the family for generations and his parents still live on it, four hectares in Santa Bárbara about ninety minutes south of Medellín, with chickens and birds living among the coffee. Those experiments worked well enough that growers around him now sell him their cherry to run through his fermentations, and he's even started teaching other farmers in the region to do the same on their own land.
Santa Bárbara sits in southwestern Antioquia above the Cauca River valley, which pushes warm air up the slopes at night and keeps the cold off the coffee. That's why growers here can plant as high as they do without losing cherry to the chill, and La Ilusión sits at 1,650 meters. The varieties are Castillo, Colombia, and Cenicafé 1, all three bred inside Colombia for rust resistance. They're commonly written off as workhorse material until somebody processes them with real attention. Harvest runs October through December, six people across four hectares picking at 95% ripeness.
Doug from Burial Beer visited La Ilusión with Methodical Coffee and suggested Andres move the fermentation indoors onto the drying beds, where the temperature holds steadier than it does out in the open, while adding the cherry pulp back after depulping. That became four days in plastic tanks with coffee juice and pulp, the whole mass held at 30°C, then washed, then six days on sun beds before mechanical dryers bring it down to 12% moisture. The goal was red fruit without giving up the clarity of a washed coffee, and it worked.
We roast it light. Pomegranate first, cherry licorice through the middle, cacao sitting underneath at the end. Juicy and sorbet-like in the mouth, with a winey acidity that keeps the whole thing moving.
Producer: Andres Cardona, La Ilusión
Region: Santa Bárbara, Antioquia, Colombia
Altitude: 1,650 MASL
Variety: Castillo, Colombia, Cenicafé 1
Processing Method: Semi-Washed
Tasting Notes
Pomegranate, Cherry Licorice, and Cacao
Roast Level
Light
Body
Juicy, Sorbet
Acidity
Winey
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12 ounces
~18 cups
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Not sure? Drip / Pour-Over is your safest bet if you're brewing with anything other than an espresso machine or doing cold brew.
- Drip / Pour-Over — Works for automatic drip machines, pour-over brewers (V60, Kalita, Chemex), and AeroPress. This is the most versatile grind and covers most home brewing methods.
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Coffee brewing sits somewhere between science and personal preference. There's no single "right" way, just the way that works for you.
We've put together brew guides for:- Chemex
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Visit our brewing page here.
Each guide covers ratios, grind size, and timing. These technical foundations help you dial in your perfect coffee. From there, it's yours to adjust. A little more coffee for boldness, a slightly coarser grind for clarity, water temperature shifts for sweetness or brightness. The variables matter, but so does what you actually enjoy drinking.
Start with a guide that matches your equipment, brew a few rounds, and notice what changes when you tweak one thing at a time. That's how you find your version.
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We offer signature and single-origin coffees that range from light to dark roast, each crafted to highlight different flavor profiles and brewing methods.
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- Single-Origin Coffees - Our rotating selection showcases beans from specific farms and regions. Selections change seasonally based on harvest and availability.
- 12South — Our most versatile medium roast. Works beautifully as drip, cold brew, or espresso.