El Tambo is a municipality in the Cauca department of Colombia, where about 8,900 coffee-producing families grow coffee on roughly 9,000 total hectares of land, just about 1 hectare apiece. The common varieties in this region are Castillo, Colombia, and Caturra, and harvest is typically between May and July. This particular lot was sourced from a single smallholder producer in the region, named Jose Ruben Orozco, whose farm is called El Triunfo. It is a 6-hectare farm with 2 hectares planted in coffee, Colombia and Castillo varieties.
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: 84–86 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.
