In the Grinder - Our Daily Coffee Weblog

One of our most important projects, Asociacion Los Naranjos, rewards farmers directly for quality.  A big component for preserving quality in coffee is proper drying, and just like roasting there is no single perfect drying curve.  There are many variables involved in drying which makes it complicated to standardize; humidity, temperature, coffee density, among others all play a role in the drying process.  Los Naranjos asked us to provide them with a moisture meter so they could deliver better and more consistent coffee--and we gladly did.

By Jamin Haddox

Our trip continued to Popayan where we were met with the gracious hospitality of Jairo Ruiz, co-owner of Banexport, a specialty coffee exporter based in Bogota. Jairo gave us a tour of the dry mill where they prepare and export some of the best coffee in Colombia. They employ a large bank of color sorters and use a unique double-pass method to ensure ultra-clean prep which is the hallmark of high-grade specialty coffee. The real treat for me was a peek at a pair of 250k Probat roasters. These incredible machines can be loaded with parchment and chaff from the adjacent dry mill to help fire the roaster and bring it to temp, no small feat in a roaster of this size. The trier is the biggest I’ve seen and the utter mass of cast iron was a formidable sight.

Anyone who’s traveled in the coffee lands knows that the best green is exported, so drinking bad coffee at origin comes with the territory (I like to substitute Coca-Cola--a real treat when made with cane sugar instead of HFCS). Much cream and sugar are key to getting your morning cafe negro down the hatch. I’m reminded of how spoiled we are in the U.S. for good coffee and how coffee that is considered un-exportable still can taste pretty darn good when shared with good company and the beautiful mountain scenery of a cool Colombian morning. Fortunately for Piero and I, after our tour of the dry mill, Jairo and his father served us the best coffee we’d had yet on this trip while Jairo filled us in on a little company background. Mr. Ruiz has been in the coffee business for over 25 years. Jairo explained that he wasn’t very interested in following in his father’s footsteps until he returned to Colombia after studying abroad and got excited about the specialty revolution. That’s when he started Banexport with his brother about 10 years ago.

We continued our conversation over lunch at a local restaurant which also doubles as an amusement park and petting zoo. Jairo says these are common all over Colombia (he used to own and manage one himself!). The concept seems incredibly tacky, but I have to admit that feeding ostrich sugar cane leaves while you wait for your meal was actually kind of fun. I found myself reflecting on the farm-to-table movement popular now in many restaurants in the U.S as we consumed grilled baby cow not 100 feet from a group of children petting a group of penned-in baby cows. Something so completely natural to them seemed odd to this Minnesotan who was raised on a diet of bloodless shrink-wrapped meat, carefully removed from the messy business of livestock.

After dinner, we said goodbye to Jairo’s father and traveled to meet Don Miguel, owner of La Esperanza. La Esperanza is a progressive and highly experimental farm just outside of Trujillo, a small town of about 5,000. His estate is sprawling and beautiful, and has been in his family for 3 generations. About 12 years ago, while working for the FNC, Miguel noticed that the Japanese market was looking for high quality and unique types of coffee, and were willing to pay for them. He attempted to start some of this work while still employed by the Federation, but became restless with the lack of support for his suggestions. Eventually, he would leave the FNC altogether. He later traveled to Panama to meet with the Peterson family of La Esmeralda fame. Seeds in hand, he returned to Colombia and began to plant Geisha at some of his highest altitude land. After years of hard-earned lessons and careful plant selection, he is now producing Geisha in Colombia, and it is of exceptional quality. In my opinion, Geisha expresses its characteristic "citrus tea" profile differently in Colombia than in Panama. While the Peterson’s coffee is a fireworks display of bergamot and stone fruit with delicate body, Miguel’s coffees express their "Geisha-ness" in a more restrained and balanced way, with heavier body, more caramel, and rounder mouth feel. Miguel has been carefully planting and tracking the genetic characteristics of his Geisha trees and says that with 3-4 more years of plant selection his coffees will continue to improve. Just a week before we left on this trip, we cupped a pre-shipment of his Geisha at 91 points. It’s hard to imagine what he means!

In a country where almost all the coffee seedlings grown are distributed, managed, and exported by the FNC, what Miguel is trying to do here is very risky. The FNC has been developing rust and pest-resistant varieties almost since its inception, the most common being variedad Colombia or their newly touted hybrid Castillo. From a yield and risk management point of view, these high-tech seedlings offer some appealing advantages. These advantages, however, don’t come without cost. The best Castillo lot I’ve ever cupped scored an 83, and some Colombian coffee experts outside of the FNC say that my experience represents about the peak possible cup for this variety that shares some of its genetic roots with Robusta. Some may remember the scandal at last year’s Cup of Excellence when the FNC claimed that the winning lot was in fact Castillo. Most experienced cuppers think that it is impossible for a lot of 100% Castillo to cup equivalent to the more traditional varieties such as Typica.

The politics of Colombian coffee are complex and nuanced. Most people outside of the FNC will speak positively about many of the FNC’s accomplishments, including the unparalleled consumer image Colombian coffee enjoys worldwide. Some, however, are skeptical that the FNC’s model of high yield input-dependent monoculture cultivation favors short-term financial prosperity at the expense of the environment and farmer health--a lesson we’re just beginning to realize here in the U.S. Castillo was developed for dense planting in full sun, so the current FNC recommendations are to cut and burn any existing vegetation and replace it with coffee alone. Traditionally, coffee in Colombia was grown amongst all kind of other food crops and these crops were used for on-farm consumption and in some cases (like bananas) for sale as a cash crop to local markets. Under the current recommendations, farmers who grow Castillo become more dependent on local markets and currency to sustain their livelihood.

Don Miguel’s vision of responsible farming isn’t for himself alone. He plans to share what he learns on his farm with other farmers in Colombia and will supply seed as well. As we climbed through his many plots of coffee, we talked about his interest in cultivating other old varieties like Bourbon, about the work he is doing to expand and improve the organic sections of his farm, and the challenge and expense of training pickers in a country where selective harvesting is not common.

Later that evening, we climbed back into the truck and headed for Caicedonia. The next morning, we awoke and headed to Miguel’s warehouse where he stores his coffee in parchment until it’s rested and ready for export. Miguel’s dedication to quality is evidenced by the professionalism of his staff and the cleanliness of his warehouse. The warehouse looks more like a coffee museum than a warehouse. It is immaculate, with bags of pergamino carefully stacked and individually tagged with every tidbit of information imaginable. La Esperanza dries their coffee to around 10.6% MC then keeps the pergamino in dated Grainpro bags until Hernando determines they are rested, stable, and ready for export. In contrast, most coffee in the world is dried to 12% (sometimes higher) to avoid the loss of any precious weight loss. Because coffee is sold on weight, removing moisture costs real money, and most exporters and farmers are unwilling to assume that loss. Coffee which is dried to around 10.8% has been proven in numerous studies to be more flavor-stable and enjoy a substantially longer shelf life compared coffees of different moisture. This detail may seem minor, but it’s evidence of La Esperanza’s commitment to quality over quantity. A truly progressive operation considering most importers and roasters neglect to take this much care in protecting their green.

Included in the warehouse is a modern cupping lab, where Hernando, also an ex-FNC employee, manages all things quality, from harvest to export. Together with Hernando, his co-coffee geek and barista Pedro, and Jairo, Piero and I cupped three tables of La Esperanza coffee including some novel fermentation experiments that Hernando had executed.

We cupped many lots, including an experimental lot of Laurina - a variety naturally low in alkaloids, and thus low in caffeine as well. (picture with description) We had seen the planting of these unique trees the previous day. The trees are small and dense, and resemble small Christmas trees with their fruit almost totally concealed by thick foliage. Miguel managed to get some seeds from an undisclosed project before it was abandoned and the trees destroyed. He has been testing caffeine content and selecting only the lowest caffeine trees for propagation. The results are coffee seeds which are naturally low in caffeine (around .04%). Decaffeinated coffee has always been irritating for me, since my personal opinion is that it’s an adulterated product of dubious quality. Laurina, on the other hand, was the biggest surprise of the trip. The tiny emerald seeds are elongated and look very similar to good-quality washed Ethiopian Sidamo. The size makes it a challenge to roast, but once you master the profile, you are rewarded with a coffee experience like none I’ve tasted before. The cup is floral and lemony, syrupy and round, strangely sweet, with caramel and rich chocolate notes. Surely this can’t be decaf! The only characteristic that betrays its heritage is a noticeable lack of bitterness. Alkaloids (a chemical group to which caffeine belongs) are responsible for many of the bittering compounds which give coffee its unique flavor. Because Laurina is low in many of these compounds, its flavor is noticeably round, and the sugars--unmodulated by bittering agents--take center stage, giving it a honey-like sweetness. If Laurina represents the future of decaffeinated coffee, then I must reluctantly put aside my prejudice and admit that I may actually enjoy decaf!

Piero and I spent the rest of the day talking shop with Hernando (though his English is much better than my Spanish), swapping roasting strategies and learning from each other. A perfect ending to a fascinating and enjoyable trip!

I've uploaded pictures here: http://www.cafeimports.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=82

This video was taken by Piero of Cafe Imports during his most recent visit to Granja La Esperanza in Colombia.  This video highlights the production of their exquisite Geisha variety.  We have this coffee now, ID3734 and ID3733

In the last 2-3 years we have seen a shortage of Colombian coffee that has contributed to the high Colombian differentials (prices) and also has contributed to the worldwide coffee shortage, being the world’s largest washed coffee producer.  All of the above has also had an impact in the prices of the coffee worldwide (Coffee “C” Market).

Healthy coffee shrub

Roya (rust) targets the physiological development of the coffee shrub and its production.  Its propagation is correlated with high rain levels, temperature/humidity relation and lower altitudes among other factors.  The shrub will loose most of its leaves and the maturation of the coffee fruit will halt and being unable to ripen.  Finally the stems will dry out and rust will be evident.  Roya has devastated plantations and this is why it is such a problem.  In recent studies it has destroyed about 30% of the production in certain areas.

Traditionally Colombia has grown varieties such as Typica, Borbon and Caturra.  These varieties are good in the cup but have some pitfalls.  They are prone to get infected by the rust fungus (Hemileia vastarix).  Roya hit hard for the first time in 1970 in Brazil.  As a reaction to roya the FNC (National Federation of Coffee Growers in Colombia) developed Variedad Colombia in 1982 and improved it until the year 2005. Variedad Colombia is derived from Hibrido de Timor, an Arabica x Robusta natural hybrid.  You might be familiar with Catimor, a hybrid of Hibrido de Timor x Caturra that is resistant to roya.  In 2005 CENICAFE started to develop Variedad Castillo.  Castillo is also derived from Hibrido de Timor and is resistant to roya, has a larger bean size and is more productive.  As of now about ¾ of coffee in Colombia is susceptible to rust hence this is one of the main problems for coffee cultivation in Colombia.  Variedad Colombia and Castillo are not 100% immune to rust but the incidence is so low it really is not worth treating since it happens at very low levels.

Coffee shrub (left) attacked by roya

Many farmers do not take precautions to prevent rust and try to address it when it has already attacked their plantation.  At this point it is too late to fix the problem and will most likely have a noticeable reduction on production.  Between 2008 and 2010 Colombia has suffered their most recent roya outbreak.

Some coffee plants might be more prone to disease than others.  Some of these factors are: limited development of root systems, excess water in soil and nutrition deficiencies due to lack of fertilization.  In order for rust to spread there has to be water (rain) splashing from leaf to leaf, ambient temperatures between 16°C and 28°C and low sunlight.  The FNC has recommended, historically, to plant coffee at 1,600+ masl (meters above sea level) in areas with an average temperature of 19°C.  In the past years we have seen erratic or unusual weather patterns causing coffee within these ranges to be affected when they weren’t in the past.  From 2008 to 2010 Colombia has seen an increase of about 40% in precipitation and has maintained a relative humidity level of at least 85% for many months.  The previous conditions are perfect for fungus propagation.  The following departments were affected by roya even at altitudes between 1600 and 2000 masl: Huila, Caldas and Quindio.  This is something I was able to experience first hand when visiting Huila and Caldas a couple of weeks ago.

Roya

There are certain man-made practices that contribute to the propagation of roya.  Weeding the areas where coffee is grown is key.  Too many weeds will compete with the coffee plant for nutrients, create humid conditions and even provide too much shade (plants 2 years and younger).  Not applying fertilizers or not enough will affect plants with a great deal of sunlight because they need more nutrients.  Excessive shade will create humid conditions due to tighter minimum and maximum temperatures.  High number of plants per hectare will create a good environment for roya growth.  In Colombia they plant about 6,000 shrubs/hectare which is extremely high compared to half or less at other origins in Central America for example.

As a preventive measure it is necessary to use fungicides on coffee shrubs.  There are different types of fungicides that can be used.  It is necessary for the farmer to determine which one is the best one.  It is very important to apply the fungicide at the right time.  The FNC provides a calendar to farmers with suggested time frames for fungicide application.  These have to be applied from 2 – 4 times a year.  Coffee growers can also apply fungicides based on flowering cycles.  Finally, growers could also apply fungicides depending on the severity of roya.  All of the above are different methods that can be used to counter act roya.

This was my second coffee-origin trip to Colombia.  Colombia is a really big coffee-country and very diverse.  Distances from coffee region to the next are vast.  This means you are on the road for a good part of the trip either by plane or car.  I think this is what makes Colombia so exciting: the different distinct regions, cup profiles and micro-climates.   

One of our most important relationships at the moment is with Los Naranjos.  This is the association that is part of CADEFIHUILA Coop.  The Los Naranjos Association is located in the town of San Agustin in the department of Huila.  The farms of Los Naranjos are in different hamlets or veredas (these are rural neighborhoods) surrounding the town of San Agustin.  Farmers become members of associations to receive assistance from it.  Associations are members of coops for the same reason. 
 

Farmers deliver their parchment coffee at a warehouse, in San Agustin, owned by CADEFIHUILA.  Since farmers sell their coffee in parchment they need to be skilled in fermenting and drying of their coffee.  This is not an exact science but results based and empirical.  Fermentation and drying varies between farm and farm for many reasons such as climate, altitude, micro-organisms, etc.  The price paid for parchment floats with the C market.  Every week the FNC (National Federation of Coffee Growers) sets a price per carga (125 kg of parchment) and farmers sell their coffee at this base price plus a premium based on certifications, coop loyalty and most importantly quality.  As an incentive for farmers to produce the best coffees we pay a quality premium well-above the FNC price.  We measure quality based on green physical analyses, moisture content, conversion factor from parchment to green and cup quality.  This is how coffee is bought and sold in Colombia on a very basic level.  Paying premiums is important but it is not all for the cafeteros (farmers).  I learned first hand from the cafeteros that recognition is important for them.  Knowing that their single-farm lot will arrive to roasters in a microlot is extremely important for them.  The upcoming microlots will come in custom-made jute bags with the full name, farm name, and altitude.  This is something the cafeteros of Los Naranjos are looking forward to and it is what makes them proud.

The typical profile of this region is a very clean cup with medium to high acidity, very balanced; the cup and aroma have tropical fruit and citric notes and hints of chocolate.  This is why we love Huila so much!

We stayed at a farm house close to San Agustin surrounded by coffee.  Inael Quinayas, owner of Campo Bello and Vice President of Los Naranjos, greeted us early in the morning.  He produced a stellar microlot on their first semester harvest this year.  You might remember his microlot P3109 (see complete beanology for more information).  We then met up at the plaza of San Agustin with Miguel Augusto Ortega (microlot P3108 from last harvest), president of the association, and his brother Marino Ortega, former president of the association.  Both of the previous cafeteros are quality focused as well.  All are proud of their achievements and mentioned that others are wanting to join the association.

Inael took us to see Marino’s and Daniel’s farm.  Both of these are very healthy farms at 1700-1900 meters and produce mainly Caturra and other varieties.  Even though the farms are extremely healthy you can see some effects of roya (rust).  Roya is a fungus that attacks dense plantations and lower altitudes the hardest.  It is relatively simple to prevent with fumigation, but given the high price of fungicides (as a function of high oil prices) many farmers could not afford to purchase enough to spray multiple times a year.  (More on roya on another blog post).

As we traveled back from our last Los Naranjos farm, Villa del Pilar, we made an unexpected stop.  We drove past Arnulfo Leguizamo’s (Cup of Excellence #1 2011 Winner) farm and our host jumped out of the car screaming Arnulfo’s name and Arnulfo came out.  I was pleased to meet the rockstar-cafetero himself and was amazed at his humility.  Arnulfo had told us that he was going to take his family to see the ocean with his price money from the Cup of Excellence competition and he did!  He was excited to show us the pictures of their travels and told us all about it.

This trip was full of cuppings (about 8 total) between Los Naranjos and other unexplored areas in the regions.  We cupped many lots from Los Naranjos and this crop looks promising.  The crop in the area is down across the board between 20-30% due to weather conditions and rust but we think there are some gems in terms of nice cups.  We will keep you in the loop if we bring these coffees in!

To have this exquisite coffee call our office and order our P3699.  It’s delicious!

On my trip to Colombia this summer, I was lucky enough to be invited as a judge for a Concurso de Taza or Cup Contest hosted by Coocentral Coop in Garzón, Huila. A small panel including myself and two lovely Aussies joined the coop’s head cupper, José Jadir Losada, in cupping our way through 30 coffees over two days. This contest was designed to showcase the local farmers’ coffees, and the financial reward provided an incentive to produce the best cup possible. Knowing that this contest and our results would put extra food on someone’s table or provide more clothing or schooling or simply some good ol’ fashioned fun, we took our job seriously.

Before we get to the coffee, a bit of background on the grand work Coocentral is doing for its members is very much worth a mention. Coocentral was established in 1975 with 55 members and has now grown to more than 3,000 members and they keep pouring in. This growth in itself illustrates how well integrated the coop is into the farmers’ livelihood. On a basic level, Coocentral works much like a bank and is even set up in a similar fashion. The green buyer pays the coop directly, and Coocentral in turn gives a portion directly to the farmer and a portion gets put back into projects and programs to support and improve producer communities. When a quality premium is paid for a particularly tasty cup, it is presented in the form of a giant check given to the farmer publicly in order to provide incentive for other farmers to keep working hard and to demonstrate that the initial sacrifice made for quality is greatly rewarded. 

In Garzón, there is no central wet mill to sell cherry; instead, these small land-holders each have their own micro-mill on site. Once the beans are pulped, they are sold to Coocentral either in wet or dry pergamino, although the transportation of wet can be risky, and it brings a lower price. Coocentral is in the process of building a brand new drying plant (different than a dry mill) where wet pergamino can be efficiently dried in higher quantities. 

Once dried, each coffee is cupped by José and his team who cup over and over, and I mean anywhere from 20 to 150 samples are cupped a day! These samples are classified based on cup quality to be sold either as a micro or macro lot. 

 

Which brings me to our lovely Café Imports selected microlots…

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.

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.

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.

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.

Are you guys as excited about Colombian Fly Crop coffees as we are??  Looking at this photo album from Sally's most recent trip to Colombia gets us pretty pumped up for new coffees rolling in this fall. 

View the Photo Album HERE

We want to wish Jamin, Piero, and Andrew a safe trip as they travel down to Colombia this week to teach some courses on sample roasting and cupping with the farmers we work with and our other partners on the ground! 

Safe Travels! 

-The CI Team

There exists a very small, mystical town tucked in the middle of the Cordillera Central of Huila, Colombia with a history rich in spirituality. This history has endured through the years since many modern day residents still feel a deep connection to their past and their ancestors. San Agustín is a special place indeed. I had the absolute pleasure of being hosted by the president of La Asociación de Los Naranjos, a 52-member community established with the main goal of producing high quality coffee and enriching the lives ofcafeteros in this region. The experience was unique to say the least.

Mr. Miguel Augusto Ortega (don Augusto), the president, started me out with a guided tour through the local park where I not only learned about the region’s history and stories, but also sensed an energy felt only in sacred lands. The passion and excitement of the guide and the peaceful presence of don Augusto was contagious. He explained that contrary to popular belief, the name “Los Naranjos” has nothing to do with oranges. Historically, the mountainside where the farms are located was named Los Naranjos, as is the river running through this slope. Now this land has been broken up and each sector has a different name, but the association is titled to keep this connection with their past alive. We were put up in the Hotel Anacaona, and the pictures below should describe the beauty and tranquility better than words.

On the coffee side of this community, don Augusto and I had a rough ride up the steep, bumpy mountain terrain. The mountainside is laced with plots of coffee farms and colorful, meticulously cared for homes lush with flowers, plants, chickens, cows, and smiling greeters.

Although we passed many farms en route, we stopped to visit three, including La Primavera, which is one of two farms owned by this year’s CoE winner, Arnulfo Leguisamo. He and his family welcomed us with a cup of coffee from his own land, which is typical practice in Los Naranjos. Farmers do not think twice about drinking their own coffee, and I mean the good stuff. From this farm, we walked a short distance to see his El Faldón farm at a whopping 1900 meters, which is named for the steep incline on which the farm sits.

I received an in depth lesson on how the Los Naranjos farms function, and they are the epitome of microlots. Each farm has its own micro-wet mill; there exists no community wet mill to sell cherry. After each harvest, the coffee is pulped on site and sent through a crib to separate the “good from the bad.” Some farmers use dry fermentation, but Arnulfo has experimented with both wet and dry and prefers to stick with wet fermentation since he found that the final cup quality improves; and as the CoE winner, I believe him. After 15-20 hours of fermentation, the coffee is washed 3-5 times, or until the water is clean; the beans are then transferred to a raised, covered drying patio for protection from the ever persistent rains. Coffee will dry in three days if sunny and can take up to two weeks if rainy, which has unfortunately been the case lately.
 

Despite the destructive roya or rust epidemic that has been known to completely wipe out harvests, many farmers are still sticking with traditional varietals and using fertilizer as their principal weapon. Don Augusto recommends that farmers plot up to 50% of Variedad Colombia or Castillo to ensure a bountiful harvest and payment, but he insists that farmers maintain at least 50% of traditional varieties, mostly Caturra mixed with some Typica and Bourbon, to keep the quality at a level for which Los Naranjos has become famous.

Once harvested, coffee is stored in the Cadefihuila Coop warehouse in San Agustín while a sample is sent to the coop headquarters in Pitalito to be cupped. At this point, coffee is separated based on the quality level and sold exclusively to Café Imports as either Los Naranjos macro or micro lots. I was invited to a mini, casual cupping of Los Naranjos lots at Cadefihuila warehouse in Pitalito, which were lovely, fruity, floral, rich cups…just as I had hoped. Both don Augusto and Arnulfo attended this cupping and were anxiously observing. At the end, both wanted to know the details of the coffee and my feedback. Don Augusto informed me that the farmers are constantly seeking the results of their coffee and are proud of the coffee they produce; I could see the anxiety on their faces as they awaited my final responses, and this kind of interest in their work and attention to their product was refreshing and impressive. No wonder this association is so successful and produces such divine coffee.

Even before heading to San Agustín for this memorable Los Naranjos experience, I spent a few days in Garzón, a town about two hours away. The Coocentral Coop works just like the Cadefihuila coop but for different municipalities of Huila, and they were hosting a contest for their farmers to bring awareness to and provide an incentive for quality coffee. Coocentral is superiorly structured to meet a variety of needs, and I received a full presentation on the ins and outs of running a coop for coffee producers. We spent a full two days cupping 30 coffees and judging the lots to determine a winner. For being so geographically close to San Agustín, the cup profile was quite different, with a consistent profile of chocolate, clean, sweet, heavy syrupy body, and some spice; the cups are consistent and lovely but the fruit intensity of those from Los Naranjos is superior. From what I could gather, this difference is mostly due to the volcanic soils present in San Agustín that are lacking in Garzón, as well as some slight varietal differences.

Overall, I was immensely impressed with the welcoming and friendly attitude of my hosts at Coocentral, Cadefihuila, and Los Naranjos. The land, coffee, and generosity of the people of this region was overwhelming and fully rounded out this experience. I hope to visit again soon and am looking forward to the next arriving lots of Los Naranjos…we are expecting a container of coffee any time now and four containers of microlots after this fall’s main harvest. In the meantime, we still have a few boxes left of Arnulfo's winning CoE lot, so give us a jingle if you want to grab a box before it is gone.

-Sally Rivera

Cafe Imports is proud to announce that we have won the auction for the #1 winning Cup of Excellence lot from Colombia this year produced by Arnulfo Leguizamo.

Andrew just got back from a trip to visit with Arnulfo and the other producers at Associacion Los Naranjos in San Augustin, and we couldn't be happier for Arnulfo.  His winning lot sold for $45.10/lb. That is nearly $104,000 in this incredible man's pocket.  He has said that he is going to use some of the money to take his children to see the ocean; something they have never been able to do.

Cafe Imports will have roughly 2300 lbs of his coffee sold in 24kg increments.  As always, we do COE coffees pro-bono, simply charging what it costs to import the coffee, in an effort to fully support these farmers and Cup of Excellence. 

Please contact your sales associate immediately to reserve this coffee before it is all gone! 

 Here is a slideshow of Arnulfo and Andrew Miller in San Augustin in May 2011:

Mobile Video Click HERE

 Here are the full details:

Andrew took the amazing trek to visit with these incredible farmers in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range in Northern Colombia.  Their coffee is now available! 

ID 3190, Teyuna 

The cup is much richer than most Colombians.  It has dark chocolate, tobacco, honey, and roasted peanut in the cup.  This coffee has milder acidity than many of our other Colombian microlots from Huila and other regions.  This is a very unique project, and we are very proud to work with the Kogui Tribe in Colombia!

**The Online Auction for COE Colombia was May 31st, 2011**

Cafe Imports secured the #1 winning lot from Arnulfo Leguizamo

Last month I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate as an international juror for the Colombian Cup of Excellence competition in Santa Marta Colombia for the 2011 auction. Santa Marta is a historic town on the northern Caribbean coast where the mountains come down to the beach and it is Sunny, hot and humid.  It was an opportunity to be at one of the greatest coffee cupping events of the year combined with a little bit of sunshine and surf. This means a lot to someone who spends their winters battling snow and ice on the great northern tundra of Minnesota where we had a record 76 inches of snow this year.

Various styles of slurp and spit seen at COE Colombia

To see the mobile version of the video, click HERE

Andrew visited the farmers of Asociacion Los Naranjos de San Augustin in Huila, Colombia December 2010.  This video is from his visit to some of the small farmers in the area.  This area is where Colombian Microlots ID 3104-3112 came from.

Enjoy! You can Click the expand arrows to the right of "HD" to view in full screen.

Written by Andrew:

Last month I travelled to Colombia to visit a group of producers in the Sierra Madre de Santa Marta region in the North of the country and then down to the South, in the State of Huila, to visit some farms in San Augustin.

It was raining when I arrived in Santa Marta and rained  most of the ten days I was in Colombia. Rain was the overriding theme of the trip and as you know, the culprit behind the Colombian coffee woes of the last few years. If you remember last year’s fall harvest was plagued by unseasonable rains that compromised the harvest and impacted flowering for the Spring crop. This was the reason behind Colombia’s harvest going from 11Million bags to 8.1Million bags.

The next phase of this crisis was other washed mild coffees getting vacuumed up to fill the 3 Million bag hole left by the Colombian shortage and their differentials climbing by some .30 cents.  Phase three was the C market rallying from $1.43 a year ago to $2.34 today based on a shortage of washed milds. F.O. Licht has predicted this year’ Colombian crop to be 9.6M bags which is better than last year, but not back to traditional levels. So apparently, the crisis continues.

Colombia has a complex harvest schedule with most regions having two harvests; the main in the North happens in the Fall and the Mitaca in the spring. That schedule is reversed in the Southern areas. There is always rain during the harvest which presents a drying challenge but producers are industrious in pursuit of top quality.

Oftentimes you see sun in the morning until the clouds roll across the mountains and the drying coffee has to be covered up. High quality producers use a parabolic, semi-domed plastic cover while commercial producers deliver wet cherries.  With a differential of 1.00 and a $2.00 C market. Many producers are content to deliver wet pergamino to a commercial mill and be done with it. Only producers with a passion for quality and a commitment for the long term are willing to do the extra work.

Here is a photo from a producers in San Augustine using raised beds under a parabolic drier. Nice.

The Kogi are a group of indigenous people living in the Sierra Madres that happen to produce coffee and invited me to visit and discuss ways of commercializing their coffee in order to generate funds to buy back the ancestral lands that have been taken from them over the last couple centuries. The Kogi have been living independently and in harmony with the world for over 400 years on this mountain. There is a fascinating National Geographic article on these people from 2004 and a link here to an overview:

Since we started the Spectacled Bear program in the fall of 2005, we have donated $2121.90 to the Wildlife Conservation Society. This money is earmarked to study and help save the Spectacled Bear, endangered in Colombia.
Thank you for supporting this program!

We were pleased to have, as a guest in our cupping lab today, Mr. Guillermo Torres, a Colombian coffee farmer. He is with a group called Minga de Sueno, out of Narino, which is made up of about 750 farming families. We put 8 Colombian samples on the table to cup with Mr. Torres and, unfortunately, didn't have a sample of his coffee to cup amongst the others. We will be receiving samples of this groups' coffee, though, and hope to forge a relationship with them in the future.

A few roasters and I went to Colombia last month to visit farms and meet with growers in the region of Huila. We flew in to Bogotá, where we met a couple of guys from the Colombian Coffee Federation (FNC) who are the exporters for most of the boutique Colombian coffees we import. We spent the next five days getting up early and going to bed late. We flew and drove and cupped coffee...and drove and flew and ate a lot... and drank Aguardiente and cupped coffee and drove and flew some more. It was truly fantastic!

Over the last few years, Café Imports has brought in many coffees from the region of Huila such as Campo Alegre, Glorius, Huila Select and the Super Decaf (EA), so we thought it fitting to tour this region. We have found the coffees from this part of the country to be high in acidity, intensely fruity, and sweet.

Our first stop was the Colombian Coffee Federation office in Bogotá, where we were given an overview of the history of Colombian coffee and the intricacies of the FNC. It is an old and democratic organization of coffee farmers that provides technical assistance and purchasing stations, builds infrastructure, schools and health clinics. That afternoon we boarded a small plane and headed South to the interior of Huila, where it was 100 degrees and where we spent the next few days visiting producer groups and farms.

The most striking thing about this part of Colombia is the natural beauty of the countryside. It is primarily rich, green jungle with small farms etched across the mountainsides. There are two mountain ranges that meet in the region of Huila, with the country’s largest river flowing in the valley between them.

Colombia is one of two coffee producing countries in the world that harvests two crops in the same year. The north harvests in the fall and the south in the spring. Huila is located in such a remarkable micro-climate that they get harvests from both ranges and harvests.

The Huila departmental coffee committee, that we met with for a round table discussion, believes that they have a “gift of nature in the outstanding quality of their coffee.” They say that “coffee is life”. Farmers in Huila, through the efforts of the associations and the FNC are very aware of the effects on the environment from processing coffees. The technical farms use a type of Aqua-pulper to remove the meat from the cherry. The old style requires 40 liters of water per kilo and the new improved technical type, an earth saving 1.5 liters! Many farmers are actively converting to Rainforest Alliance (RA) and welcome the structure it gives to what they have always believed in: protecting their resources. They state their challenge as “to be sustainable and to increase quality”.

In quality competitions over the last few years, Huila has fared exceptionally well. In the Cup of Excellence they had 16 of the last 25 coffees. In the Illy competitions they were in the top 5 over the last two years; in 2002 they took 1st through 5th place.

In the town of Pitalito we met with the association and discussed our coffee philosophies and theirs. We asked and answered questions and then concluded the meeting with a round of applause and a few cases of beer. We then climbed in to the back of some trucks and jeeps and headed up the mountain to a farm at nearly 6,000 feet where they had prepared a feast for us. The Mayor arrived and everyone feasted.

We took a tour of the facility, a recent RA certified farm and were shown the improvements in processing and conservation, including domiciles for the employees and a water and septic system. Afterward the Mayor and his brother stood on the patio and entertained us with traditional music and a band of youth danced for us in traditional Huilanese fashion.

Afterwards, they let us ride their motorcycles down the mountain, of which I cannot share photos or my insurance agent and wife will be clamoring to choke me. Wow, what a day!

These people were fantastic. They were friendly, happy, proud and kind. They have a beautiful and rich country and are blessed, I believe.

—Andrew Miller (Andrew@cafeimports.com)