Pedro William Mecizo grows coffee on his 3 ha parcel in the Vereda of Puentetierra, situated in Balboa, Cauca. On the farm, the 10 year old coffee trees are grown under the shade of citrus and banana trees. He works in a traditional manor, using organic methods: he maintains the land with organic compost and is growing the coffee variety premium.
Pedro's farm is part of the Asproabalbao group who are members of the Cooperative Cosurca. The cooperative has been working hard in communities around the local area, the Popayan region, having several programmes with a real focus on empowering members with education and training to help them prosper post conflict. They have also extended their microlot programme this year to provide an incentive for farmers to produce quality lots. The cooperative has provided training and cupping in the field to to educate growers and has also been paying higher prices at the collection points (15% more) for coffee delivered below 11% moisture content. The coffee the cooperative is trying to select is ripe coffee which they source by moving around the various farm every 8 days. On the day of collection, the coffee is pulped and fermented for 12-15 hours that night. The following day it is washed and cleaned before being dried in a parabolic drier on raised beds for approximately 7-10 days.
The quality of this coffee is exceptional and we are delighted to be able to offer this to you. We hope you agree!
Coffee cherries drying on raised beds in Colombia
Coffee in Colombia:
Colombia is the third largest producer of coffee in the world after Brazil and Vietnam – though holds the crown for being the largest producer of washed Arabica. The coffee producing areas lie among the foothills of the Andes and the Sierra Nevada, where the climate is temperate with adequate rainfall. Colombia has three secondary mountain ranges (cordilleras) that run towards the Andes and it is amongst these ranges that the majority of coffee is grown. The hilly terrain provides a wide variety of micro-climates, meaning that harvesting can take place throughout the year as coffee from different farms will ripen at varying times.
The first exports of coffee from Colombia began in 1835 when around 2,500 bags were exported to the U.S. and by 1875 there were approximately 170,000 bags leaving the country bound for the U.S. and Europe. Exports grew over the next hundred years or so and peaked in 1992 at around 17 million bags. Today, following unreliable weather patterns and a national program of plant regeneration, Colombian exports currently stand at around 9 million bags of coffee per year.
There are more than half a million growers spread throughout the key regions of Nariño, Cauca, Meta, Huila, Tolima, Quindio, Caldas, Risaralda, Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Cundinamarca, Guajira, Cesar, Madgalena, Boyacá, Santander and Norte de Santander. In a country as large as Colombia, with an established coffee industry that is spread over 17 regions, there is bound to be a variation in quality. However, it is widely accepted that some of the country’s best coffees come from the south west in the departments of Huila, Tolima, Nariño and Cauca. Key varietals include caturra, bourbon, typica, castillo and maragogype.
Coffee’s importance to the Colombian economy brought about the development of The Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros (FNC) in 1927. This body is responsible for research, technical advisory services, quality control and marketing. Juan Valdez, a fictitious character created by the FNC, is the world famous moustachioed, mule-riding and sombrero-wearing coffee farmer depicted on coffee sacks and logos. He has very much become the face of the Colombian coffee industry, especially outside of the country
Information & Images supplied by Falcon Speciality