For the first time, Passenger is excited to introduce a coffee to our menu that we’ve specially selected as an ideal accompaniment to the hearty meals, rich desserts, and memorable occasions shared between friends and family this holiday season. Whether brewed for spirited gatherings or moments of quiet reflection, we hope this coffee provides a simple yet special addition to your end-of-year traditions.

Historically, holiday ‘blends’ have been more the norm for these types of seasonal offerings, especially in the US. For our first iteration of a holiday release, however, we decided to take inspiration from many of the Nordic specialty coffee roasters and traditions that we’ve admired over the years. Each year, it’s not uncommon to find Nordic roasters who release a single-origin ‘Julekaffe’ coffee. These high-quality, and often single-origin or single-producer, coffees are selected for their recognizable holiday flavors reminiscent of autumnal berries, warming spices, browning sugars, and chocolate.

Our selection this year is a pink bourbon variety separation from Colombian producer Wilson Alba. Wilson has been working alongside his brother Jose on their farm, Sierra Morena, in the Huila department of Colombia, for nearly twenty years. Many of our favorite Colombian coffees in recent years have been pink bourbon variety lots from this particular region in Southern Huila called Palestina. For the past two years now, producers from this region have been among the most beloved of our Copa de Oro winning Reserve Lot releases, with names like Juan Jimenez quickly becoming perennial standouts. Similar to many of those lots, we find this coffee exhibits an abundance of juicy and sweet fruit qualities, ranging from fresh cranberry to orange marmalade, alongside a subtly spiced milk chocolate and toffee-like sweetness.