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Café Uba and Finca Milán: the Risaralda coffee we roast

Many of the Colombian coffees in OVRIDE's Experimental range come from the same producer: Café Uba, in the Risaralda region, at the heart of Colombia's coffee zone. We keep working with them because their lots have a clear profile, are traceable to the farm, and come with an open explanation of how they were processed.

Who Café Uba is

Café Uba is the registered brand of the Colombian company Café Fino SAS, based in Dosquebradas, Risaralda. Behind it are two partners, Julio Madrid and Julio Andrés Quiceno, from families that have grown coffee for three generations.

The green coffee we buy from Café Uba comes from two farms:

  • Finca Milán, where most of our lots come from, including Captain Mark;
  • Finca La Riviera, where Gesha Natural comes from, for example.

On every product page we name the producer as it appears on the lot's label.

Finca Milán

Finca Milán is in the village of Betulia, in the Arabia district, near Pereira. The farm has produced coffee since 1982 and grows varieties such as Caturra, Pink Bourbon, Purple Caturra, Colombia, and Castillo Naranjal.

This is also where Café Uba develops its own processes, such as Culturing and Nitro Fermentation, alongside classic washed and natural methods. The farm protects three natural springs and keeps biological corridors of guadua bamboo.

The Milán lots we have roasted so far were grown between 1,400 and 1,600 m. The newest one, Captain Mark, is grown at 1,600 m.

How Café Uba processes coffee

Café Uba is known for controlled fermentations. In short:

  • Culturing: a controlled anaerobic fermentation of 6–8 days in which the pulped coffee sits in tanks with activated starter cultures and, depending on the type, prepared crushed fruit. In practice it is Café Uba's co-fermentation protocol, which is why many of their lots appear as co-ferment at OVRIDE. We explain it in detail in the Culturing guide.
  • Nitro Fermentation: a variant of anaerobic fermentation supported with nitrogen. See the Nitro Fermentation guide.
  • Infused: Café Uba describes it as a technique in which liquor is added during the last stage of fermentation, to modify that stage and give the coffee a distinctive sensory profile.
  • Co-ferment: the coffee ferments together with ingredients such as fruit, musts, or spices. The differences between these processes are explained in the co-ferment guide.

Our rule is simple: we print the process on the bag and write everything we know about the coffee in its product description. That is why working with honest suppliers and producers matters: we can only be transparent with you if they are transparent with us. A coffee with very clear fruit or rum notes should say where those notes come from.

Captain Mark, from the April 2026 harvest

The first Captain Mark lot was far more successful than we expected. Now it is back, from a new harvest, and we are curious what you think of the new lot. Once you have tasted it, leave us a review on the product page.

Captain Mark is a Caturra from Finca Milán, Culturing (Infused) processed. The green coffee sack label reads: producer Julio Madrid, 1,600 m, Pereira, Risaralda, April 2026 harvest.

It is the only Infused coffee in Café Uba's entire range. The base is their Culturing protocol, and at the very end, in the last stage of fermentation, liquor is added. That is why Café Uba lists the process as Culturing, while the description and the sack say Infused.

After pulping, the coffee ferments for several days in wooden barrels that were used in Chile's wine industry, then dries slowly in the sun for 25–30 days. In the cup we find a tiramisu-like sweetness, warm spices, and a fine hint of rum. Café Uba describes this coffee with notes of oak, rum, and vanilla.

See Captain Mark – Colombia

Why "Infused" can sound bad, and why we value this label

In specialty coffee, "infused" sometimes has a bad reputation. The reasons are understandable:

  • when an aromatic ingredient is added during processing, part of the taste in the cup no longer comes only from the coffee, the variety, and the place where it grew;
  • some worry that added flavors can cover up an ordinary coffee and make it seem more valuable than it is;
  • there have been lots sold as "anaerobic" or "experimental" that had actually been co-fermented or infused, without saying so.

The problem in that last case is not the method but the lack of transparency. We do not believe any processing method is wrong in itself. We believe it should be owned by whoever did the processing and stated clearly down the chain, so you can choose with full information.

That is why we value that Café Uba writes "Infused" directly on the green coffee sack and explains on its website what it means. It would have been easy to call the lot just "Culturing" or "experimental". That they did not gives us confidence in the rest of the information they give us. We do the same: on the bag and in the description, we name the process exactly as the producer does.

Other Café Uba coffees at OVRIDE

Availability changes from lot to lot, but these are the Café Uba coffees we have offered:

Frequently asked questions

Is Café Uba a farm or a brand?

Café Uba is the brand. The coffee comes from the farms of the partners behind it, and every OVRIDE product page names the farm the lot comes from.

Are Café Uba coffees flavored?

Not in the sense of supermarket flavored coffee, where flavor is added after roasting. The notes come from processing at the farm, before drying and roasting. When a lot is co-fermented or Infused, we say so clearly.

Who are these coffees for?

For anyone who wants a memorable coffee with very clear fruit, sweetness, or dessert notes. If you prefer a classic coffee with chocolate and gentle acidity, start with the Core range.

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