What Is Ombligón Coffee? Meet the Belly Button Bean

If you've been anywhere near specialty coffee lately, you've probably heard the word Ombligón (also written Ombligon) dropped with the kind of reverence usually saved for rare wine. It's been showing up on competition stages, on auction tables, and on the menus of coffee nerds everywhere. We managed to get our hands on some, so here's everything you need to know about the belly button bean.

What is Ombligón coffee?

Ombligón is a rare coffee variety, the coffee equivalent of a grape varietal like pinot noir or riesling. It grows almost exclusively in the Huila region of southern Colombia, which makes it hard to find anywhere else.

The name comes from ombligo, Spanish for belly button. Look closely at a ripe Ombligón cherry and you'll see a cute little dimple on the end. That's it. That's the whole naming story, and we love it.

Where did it come from?

Honestly? Nobody is totally sure. Most agronomists think Ombligón is a natural mutation of an Ethiopian landrace, one of the wild, genetically diverse coffee types that grow in coffee's birthplace. Genetic testing hasn't confirmed that yet, so for now its family tree has a few question marks. What everyone does agree on is that it tastes ridiculously good.

Why is everyone talking about it?

Ombligón has become a fixture on the US Barista Championship stage, including back-to-back wins in 2024 and 2025. When competitors with access to basically any coffee on earth keep choosing the same variety, people pay attention. Pair that with how little of it exists, and you've got one of the most sought-after coffees in the world right now.

Meet Blanca Gonzales

Our Ombligón comes from Blanca Gonzales, who grows coffee in Palestina, Huila, at 1,546 meters, and sells it under her own brand, Brisas de Amnica.

Blanca is a graduate of Forest's Huila Condor Women's Academy, and her lot took second place in the Academy's graduation competition in November 2025. The competition and the auction that follows let these women farmers see the fruit of their hard work directly in action: because they take part, they take home far more than the average price for their green coffee. Kimberly, our co-owner, bought this lot at that auction.

Every coffee we roast is grown by women producers, and lots like this one are why. You can read more about the producers we work with on our Partners at Origin page.

How Blanca processes this lot

After harvest, the coffee goes into fully sealed plastic bags, still in the cherry, to ferment for 48 hours. Then the cherry is removed and the seeds ferment for another 24 hours in their mucilage, the sticky, sugary layer under the skin, before a final washing.

What does it taste like?

Flavor always depends on the farm, the processing and the roast, so we can only speak for ours. This lot tastes like orange, passionfruit, elderflower and honey; bright fruit layered over delicate florals, a long honey-sweet finish, and a body so silky it should come with a thread count. We roast it light so all of that comes through.

How we brew it: AeroPress 

This is the recipe our team keeps coming back to:

• 24g coffee, medium-coarse grind (6 on a Lagom)
• AeroPress inverted, with a double filter
• 197°F water
• Add 60g of water and stir 20 times.
• At 30 seconds, pour up to 180g and stir for 10 seconds.
• Twist on the cap, flip it over and plunge for 1 minute, as slowly as humanly possible.
• Add 40g of water to the finished brew. Voilà 💃🏻

Try it while it lasts

Microlots like this are small by definition, and once it's gone, it's gone. Grab a 7 oz tin of Blanca Gonzales, Colombia Ombligón and taste what all the fuss is about. If you love it, you'll probably also dig our other women-grown coffees.