This offering comes to us courtesy of producer Freimar Cifuentes of Acevedo, Colombia. His farm, Finca La Estrella, is a 5 hectare parcel of which 3 hectares are planted in Pink Bourbon and Caturra. His process consists of harvesting only ripe cherries, pulping on the same day using a traditional 4 outlet pulper, fermenting wet for 36 hours, washing the coffee 3 times, then placing the beans in a parabolic dryer for an average period of 15 to 20 days.
From Freimar:
“My brother and I saw that some neighbors received a better payment for their coffees than the one we received, so we began to experiment with the fermentation process increasing the hours we used. We received recommendations like fermenting the cherries for 36 hours without using water, but at the first attempt the coffee was damaged. Then we tried the same procedure again and it worked, so we continue using 36 hours in the fermentation process. However, depending on the average temperature we increase or decrease the fermentation time.
I have been working with coffee for more than 15 years now. My mother gave me the first lot, it was Caturra variety. After that, my parents moved to another place near the Pitalito municipality and bought a farm; there I continued working on a hectare planted with coffee. With the profits from those lots I was able to buy this farm where we are now, I moved here with my wife who has always supported me from the beginning.”
For more information on Colombian coffee, visit our Colombia Origin Page.
