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Colombia Villa Karina Gesha
Jasmine, Rainier Cherry, Lemon
The producer, José Amir Garzon, lives on the farm with his wife and three children. In other words: it’s a family business. Garzon has been working with coffee for 30 years. His experience and drive have led him to focus on specialty coffee. His profits go towards improving the infrastructure of the small farm while also caring for the local environment.
Located in the Planadas region, a remote area renowned for its high quality coffee, Finca Villa Karina is a small farm of no more than 5 hectares in total. This is just enough space to carefully plant the Geisha coffee trees, care for them for a whole year, and then hand-pick carefully while only selecting ripe cherries.
Area: Tolima
Process: Washed
Variety: Gesha
Altitude: 1750 meters
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Colombia Monteverde
Green Apple, Pineapple, Sultana Raisins
Finca Monteverde is a 15 hectare farm which cultivates a unique range of coffee varieties, including Red and Yellow Bourbon, Geisha, Wush Wush, and Mocca. The farm belongs to Gilardo Gutiérrez, whose family have been cultivating coffee here for more than 70 years.
There are two harvest periods per year in Colombia: the fly crop from April to June, and the main harvest in October to December. Alongside coffee, Finca Monteverde also grows avocado and citrus fruits for local consumption.
They have developed some processing protocols which features fruity and spicy tones which is unique to coffee, a fermentation technique in cherry they learnt from Yemeni coffee, who developed it perfectly.
The drying processes are done in canopy structures with translucent roof, taking care that air flow is constant as to keep the temperatures low during the process. This step can take an average of 25 to 30 days, which upon reaching a target humidity of 11% ,the coffee is finally packed in GrainPro and fique bags to be delivered to roasters.
Newerly, Gilardo’s son, tells us more about the family’s history. “My generation is the fourth on this farm to have made a living from coffee,” he says. “Today, the three children in the family are professional cuppers, and we have spent eight years producing exotic coffees after hearing about the success of farms like La Esmeralda in Panama. “These farms were certified organic for many years, and even though they do not maintain an active certificate, they still practice clean agriculture on the farm.” Roasters Notes: Monteverde is a farm we keep close to our hearts. It was the Wush Wush from this farm that caught our attention and the first coffee we have taken to a Barista Competition. It's been awhile so it's fun for us again to work on Monteverde coffees and a first time for us with their Yellow Caturra varietal. Super lively and juicy coffee so if acidity is your thing, you don't want to miss this one Area: Caicedonia, Valle del Cauca Process: Anaerobic Natural Varietal: Yellow Caturra Altitude: 1490 - 1690m
Colombia Finca Puerto Alegre
Lily, Grapes, Honeydew
The Lopez family has been cultivating coffee on Finca Puerto Alegre and Finca El Roble for over 3 generations. In 2014, 4 Lopez siblings – the grandchildren of Don Moises – took over the farm and began focusing their efforts on producing sustainable, specialty coffees. The siblings were later joined by several of their own children who have focused on innovative processing and ecotourism and today, the farm benefits from this multi-generational expertise.
Finca Puerto Alegre is divided into parcels that are located in the mountains surrounding the town of Pijao. The main plot sits in the foothills and has a stream passing through. The mill, lab and main house are all located on this plot. Several hectares of Java variety coffee are planted on this plot. Further up the mountain, the Castillo, Mocha/Moka and Geisha varieties are each planted on their own designated plots. The nursery is also located among these higher plots. Currently, they are cultivating several varieties of Bourbon seedlings, including a variety called Aji that originated in Southern Huila.
Coffee at Puerto Alegre is shade grown and has been since their patriarch, Don Moises, made the decision to maintain his shade cover in the 1970s, when many other producers were transitioning to full sun exposure. Although full sun generates higher yields, Don Moises was a strong believer in sustainability (before sustainability was a “thing”) and did not want to damage the environment with use pesticides and fertilizers for higher yields.
Today, Leucaena (river tamarind) is the main shade tree planted on the farm. The tree’s roots fix nitrogen and, since it sheds its leaves every 3 months, a great source of biomass for producing organic fertilizer. This periodic shedding also reduces pruning costs.
Due to weather patterns, Finca Puerto Alegre produces coffee year-round. The Lopez family fertilizes and prunes trees on a regular schedule to keep plants healthy and productive.
Area: Buenavista, Pijao, Quindio
Process: Washed
Variety: Gesha
Altitude: 1600 meters