Colombia Nariño El Filo

This washed microlot is produced by Francisco Loaiza, a second generation coffee-grower, on his farm, El Filo. It sourced through our partners in Nariño, San Martin Origin Coffee. El Filo is located in the heart of Alto de Naranjal, perched at an altitude of 2050 masl. It’s 5 hectares in size, with 2 hectares dedicated to coffee cultivation and 6000 thriving coffee trees.

Francisco cultivates Caturra, Castillo, and Variedad Colombia. His goal is to buy a plastic dryer as a future investment. The main harvest runs from June – August, with a second harvest running from December – January. During the high-season, he hires 12 cherry pickers to help him during the harvest. The cherry-picking process is done by hand. The harvested cherries are then floated in plastic tanks and then fermented in cherry for 1 day. The cherries are then pulped, and fermented again for another 2 days. The coffee is sun-dried on a patio.

Nariño is located in the far south-west of Colombia bordering Ecuador and is one of the most challenging, but also most interesting places to work in. These farms are very small, and are located at extremely high altitudes of 2050 – 2200 masl on very steep hillsides in remote areas. We work alongside exporters that have coffee programs targeting certain areas, groups, or producers investing in quality production. In contrast to other Colombian regions, this area experiences extremely dry conditions during the harvest time with low humidity. Combined with high altitudes, such environmental factors can definitely affect the flavour profiles of this region, making them different from other Colombian coffees.