The Variety: Sudan Rume — Coffee's Wildest Origin Story

Sudan Rume is not a bred variety, not a cultivated landrace, not the product of any research station. It is a genuinely wild arabica coffee, discovered in 1940 by British researcher A.S. Thomas growing on the slopes of the Boma Plateau — a highland plateau in what is now South Sudan, near the border with Ethiopia. Thomas described wild arabica coffee growing in two localities: Barbuk and Rume. Three samples were preserved in storage at the international coffee collection at CATIE in Costa Rica, where they remained as living genetic donors for decades.

Genomic studies have since confirmed that Sudan Rume belongs to one of the few remaining truly wild arabica populations — genetically distinct from, but related to, Ethiopian landraces. World Coffee Research describes it as representing a separate gene pool from Ethiopian heirloom types: cousins within the wild arabica family rather than siblings. Where Ethiopian heirloom varieties underwent centuries of farmer selection and domestication, Sudan Rume remained in the wild, making it genetically closer to what arabica looked like before human cultivation shaped it.

Sudan Rume's Greatest Legacy: The Parent of SL28

Sudan Rume is not merely a rare single-origin curiosity. In the 1950s, Scott Laboratories in Kenya used Sudan Rume genetics in their breeding programme, producing what became SL28 — one of the most celebrated coffee varieties in the world, responsible for the distinctive blackcurrant, tomato, and wine-like profiles that have made Kenyan coffee globally famous. Every time a coffee buyer reaches for a Kenyan AA from the Nyeri highlands, they are drinking the indirect legacy of Sudan Rume's wild genetics from the Boma Plateau. Sudan Rume also contributed to SL34 and, through those descendants, to Batian and other newer Kenyan varieties. Its genetics have shaped the global specialty industry far more than its rarity in the field would suggest.

"Sudan Rume is one of the few remaining true wild Arabica populations. It was first collected in 1941 on the Boma Plateau — a genuinely wild coffee, not the product of any breeding programme." — Mythical Coffee

Finca La Riviera and Café UBA: The Risaralda Project

Finca La Riviera is located in Santa Rosa de Cabal, in the Risaralda department of Colombia's Eje Cafetero — the Coffee Cultural Landscape. The farm sits at 1,700–1,750 metres above sea level, within the Los Nevados National Park volcanic zone. Volcanic soils from the snow-capped volcanoes surrounding the region provide exceptional mineral richness, and the altitude creates the temperature variation that builds aromatic complexity in slow-maturing varieties like Sudan Rume.

The operation is led by Julio César Madrid Tisnés and his business partner and processing specialist Andrés Julio Quiceno, who have been refining their craft together since 2013. The farms — La Riviera, Milán, and Buenos Aires — form part of Café UBA, a collective created by third-generation coffee growers who describe their mission as combining traditional coffee farming knowledge with a recreational approach to specialty coffee's preparation and enjoyment. La Riviera is the innovation hub of the group: home to nineteen varieties, bioreactor fermentation equipment, and a documented commitment to ecological farming including shade trees and sustainable inputs.

Julio César's ancestral connection to the land is deep — the oldest coffee trees on Finca Milán were planted by his family decades ago in what was once shared farmland between coffee farmers and cattle ranchers. The family has been operating in coffee for over 40 years. Andrés Quiceno brings the processing precision: he and Julio Madrid were instrumental in introducing the first Catiopia trees to production in the Risaralda region through their partnership with the Colombian Coffee Federation (FNC) — a significant contribution to the region's varietal diversity.

Sudan Rume at La Riviera: 11 Years of Cultivation

The Sudan Rume variety has been established at La Riviera for over 11 years — making it one of the longest-running Sudan Rume cultivation projects in Colombia. The variety is characterised by copper-coloured leaves, tall plants, and elongated cherries, and it belongs to the Ethiopian/Sudanese wild arabica family. Growing Sudan Rume commercially is genuinely difficult: it is notoriously low-yielding, demands careful management, and is sensitive to environmental variations in ways that higher-yielding varieties are not. That La Riviera has sustained and refined it for over a decade — and is producing competition-grade lots from it — reflects the seriousness of the operation.

The Process: Bioreactor Yeast Inoculation

La Riviera processes Sudan Rume using a highly controlled, technologically advanced protocol. The farm uses a Bioreactor — a sealed, programmable fermentation vessel that allows precise control of temperature, pressure, and microbial environment — combined with yeast inoculation to maximise aromatic expression while maintaining cup clarity.

1. Manual harvest with strict cherry selection — only ripe cherries accepted; floated to confirm density and remove defects.
2. Cherries inoculated with Kazachstania humilis (or similar selected yeast strain), placed in Bioreactor for controlled fermentation. Temperature, pH, and CO₂ levels monitored in real time.
3. 24-hour pre-fermentation period in cherry, then depulping.
4. 36 hours of additional controlled fermentation in parchment.
5. Washing and mechanical drying in dehumidifier to achieve optimal moisture levels. Dehumidifier drying (vs sun) preserves Sudan Rume's delicate volatile aromatics, which are particularly susceptible to heat degradation.

Who Buys La Riviera Sudan Rume?

La Riviera's Sudan Rume has attracted a global roster of top-tier specialty roasters — a testament to how extraordinary the cup quality is when a wild variety meets a technically precise processing approach in an ideal volcanic terroir.

Risaralda: The Coffee Cultural Landscape Context

Santa Rosa de Cabal, where La Riviera is located, sits within the Eje Cafetero — the Colombian Coffee Cultural Landscape awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2011. The designation encompasses 141 municipalities across Caldas, Quindío, Risaralda, and Valle del Cauca, recognising a living cultural tradition in which coffee farming has shaped architecture, social life, and the regional economy for generations. The proximity to the Nevado del Ruiz and other volcanoes of the Los Nevados National Park gives Risaralda's soils their mineral density — the same volcanic influence that benefits El Vergel in Fresno and distinguishes Risaralda coffee from the sandy alluvial soils of lower-altitude growing regions.

Brew Guide