In the Grinder - Our Daily Coffee Weblog
Juan Tama: Kogi & Cabildo Training in Colombia
September 21, 2011
Andrew, Jamin and I went down to Colombia to visit the Kogi and other Cabildos who export through Juan Tama. We have been working with them for about a year now and have found a lot of potential in the quality along with a really cool story behind it.
We were picked up at the Popayan airport by our hosts and met with different parties who are supporting the Juan Tama project. These include private and public organizations which are giving financial support.
It was six of us who were riding on a pickup truck to Tierradentro… so Jamin and I decided to ride on the back appreciating the beautiful scenery. About an hour prior to arriving to Tierradentro we stopped by a shack to grab some Panela-water, bread and cheese. We finally arrived to downtown Inza were Juan Tama has its parchment receiving center. In this mini-warehouse they also have their Quality Control Lab where we did most of our training.
On this trip I was able to see the differences in processing between different origins and even amongst regions. El Salvador usually has the wet and dry mill integrated into one big mill. In Colombia, where there are many small-land-holders, farmers de-pulp and dry their own coffee and sell the parchment.Café Imports donated a sample roaster to Juan Tama’s Quality Control Lab. We believe that by facilitating these tools to producers we can improve the quality of their coffee and their lives and provide our customers with delicious coffees.
On the first day of training, Jamin and I, gave an introduction to what Specialty Coffee is and went over coffee defects using the SCAA Defect Handbook as a guide. This guide is very useful for producers because it tells them how to detect defects, how to prevent them and what the implications are. This is something they have already been doing (visually sorting defects out).
After going through some theory, we gave an introduction to cupping. These producers have very little cupping experience. This is a big challenge for all because it is hard to know what you have when you haven’t tasted it. We saw many members excited about cupping their coffees.
For our second day of training we gave an introduction to roasting and cupped more coffees. We cupped coffees from different origins (Panama, Brazil and other Colombian regions). Cupping coffees from other origins is not common at coffee producing countries--all were surprised. They were able to notice how different coffee can be. Their all-around favorite was a Panama Geisha.
Wilmer (Juan Tama) and Jorge Mario (Kogi) will be their main roasters and cuppers. Both of them seemed really excited about cupping their coffees, they asked a lot of questions and seemed eager to learn more. Being able to connect with like-minded people at origin is very satisfying and we believe it is important to fostering long-term relationships.
To end the first half of our trip we visited Don Remijio which contributed to our “La Milagrosa” microlot. He has a very humble operation—about 1 hectare of coffee (Typica, Caturra and San Bernardo). He owns his own micro de-pulper and a parabolic solar dryer (which is key due to the rainy season). Don Remijio also cultivates coca, corn and soy. When we were leaving he made sure everyone of us took two of his freshly laid eggs each and a shot of agua ardiente. We are extremely excited to be working with these indigenous groups and believe we can make an impact in the region. Historically the Kogis have been taken advantage of by coyotes when commercializing their coffee. I heard stories about middlemen getting them drunk and then negotiating a really low price for their coffee. The container we bought from them was purchased at an unprecedented price and the funds were used to purchase lands that the colonizing Spaniards took from them.
We are really excited for the future of these projects!
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