Description
- Origin: Colombia
- Region: Nariño
- Town: Colon Geneva
- Farm: Personal farm
- Farmer: Jesús Cerón
- Crop: 2023
- Altitude: 1950-2000m
- Variety: Caturra, Castillo, Catuai
- Processing: Natural
A note from our supplier, This Side Up:
Jesus has been a coffee farmer all of his life. He came from a family of farmers and lives with his mother, wife and brother. They all work together to maintain the coffee fields and process the coffee at their own small mill. He has been selling coffee to the FNC for most of his life but after meeting Juan Pablo, found out that his coffee is of exceptional quality. This is mainly due to his meticulous way of working. He has become very interested in improving quality, even more now that his first direct export received first prize in our cupping competition. He made almost identical drying beds to those at Argote and has started making high quality washed cascara as well. He is healthy again after surviving cancer and chemotherapy some years ago, making his feat of high quality production even more astounding.
What would happen if we did something different with our coffee? wondered Juan Pablo just when his father, Efraín, was about to sell the estate. What would happen if I moved back to the field? thought Juan Pablo who was then living in the city, like the rest of his brothers. Father and son started processing and roasting their own coffee, selling it locally. In 2014, Lennart met Juan Pablo through a mutual friend. They hit it off immediately and a partnership was born. In the first year, we helped them obtain hulling equipment and an export license so they could sell this coffee straight to us.
Less than two years later, they became independent exporters, created raised beds, helped their friends of the Muñoz family process and export their crop, and already seven groups of field baristas have helped to experiment with cascara, honey, natural, anaerobic processing, and much, much more. Since 2016 the washed crop was fermented, a great tweak that has made the coffee’s sweetness more layered. In 2017 we began experimenting and upgrading with greater pace and in direct cooperation with roasters. 2018 brought about the first structural fermentation timing experiments, while in 2019 many of the farmers have spent their premiums on not just raised beds but raised drying “drawers” for maximum space efficiency. 2020 and 2021 saw the establishment of a training center for regenerative transition for any farmer who is interested. In 2022 the processing craziness continues and there are even plans to start cacao production. With a mentality and a network like Argote’s, the sky truly is the limit.
Our coffee comes in craft paper bags which contain a plastic liner on the inside to guarantee freshness of our coffee. Please dispose properly at your local plastic trash container. The Village Coffee is roasted fresh every week, and best consumed within four weeks after roast date. Store your coffee in a dry, dark and cool place, avoid the fridge.
