This coffee comes from the young producer Oscar Realpe and his 4.3 hectare farm located in the village of Buena Vista, Totoró, Cauca. Oscar has been producing coffee since he first planted his farm with Castillo in 2011. He lives with and supports his mother and step father, who both have helped him greatly in become a quality coffee producer.
As for his techniques, Oscar picks only fully ripe cherries every 20 days during the harvest period. Once collected, the cherries are dupulped on the same day and set to dry ferment for 18 hours before being washed 4 times. After the washings, coffee is placed in a parabolic dryer for an average period of 10 to 14 days until in reaches a desirable and stable level of moisture.
Oscar has roughly 20,000 trees on his farm and since recently cupping his own coffee alongside the coffee of other producers, feels determined to improve his techniques wherever he can.
The Regional Select Program was created to highlight the unique profiles we have found that are inherent to specific microregions within Colombia. The regions we are focusing on are Huila, Nariño, Cauca and Tolima. The primary difference between the Microlot Program and Regional Select is the preshipment cupping score.
This program adds yet another tier to our stratified buying structure in Colombia, designed to further reward quality. As the coffees are received at origin, they are separated based on quality and local areas.
The separations look like this:
Regional Select: 86–87 pts
Microlot Program: 87–89 pts
90 Points Program: 90+ pts
We think that the terroir or soil, sun weather, and placement on the planet contribute largely to the flavor of these coffees, when they are picked ripe and handled properly. These coffees are selected by cup and then blended, like a Rhone wine or a local honey that comes many fields in a 4-mile radius.
For more information about coffee production in Colombia, visit our Colombia origin page.
