$13.75 LB

Golden Kiwi, Red Grape, White Chocolate, Complex

Producer: Segundo Valencia

Location: Alto Naranjal

Varietal: Castillo, Colombia

Process: Washed

Elevation: 1950 masl

FOB Cost: $12.63 kg

Our Cost: $15.69 kg

Segundo has grown coffee since 1992, when he bought his first farm La Granja-before planting coffee, he grew beans, peas, and corn. He worked as a laborer on

other farms until he saved enough to purchase the farm alongside his son-in-law. These days, Segundo notes that land was cheaper and easier to purchase back then. He turned to coffee because the other crops didn’t provide a decent living, even though coffee prices were very low when he started. Segundo planted every tree on all three of the plots that he has now himself. He didn’t know much about coffee, and learned by asking and watching his neighbors.

The La Granja farm has 7,000 castillo and variedad Colombia plants, planted on two different lots, along with around 100 Leucaena shade trees. Segundo reports that the El Niño dry spell hit hard this year- his rocky, stony soils dry out quickly, but luckily here is a stream running through the farm, and he has used the streamwater to irrigate his trees.

PROCESSING

Segundo says that his farming practices and processing aren’t especially remarkable, but everything is just done carefully, and he manages the harvest really well. First, he insists that only ripe coffee is picked, and often the harvests from three days are collected before de-pulping. That means that Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday’s pickings are combined and de-pulped on Wednesday. The coffee is then left to ferment in mucilage in a fermentation tank for 2 days, depending on the weather. The coffee is washed three times so that the parchment is left very white- Segundo says that he likes it this way for a cleaner cup. He carries the washed coffee to his dryer at home- it can take 4-8 days to dry, depending on the weather.