In Colombia, Caturra is generally known for having the best flavour attributes if farmers are able to do everything right throughout all stages of the production cycle. That said, we have seen a lot of amazing cups with the Colombia and Castillo varieties as well.

If they are well treated by the producer, and picked when they are extremely ripe, meaning a very deep red to purple colour, they lose the common herbal and astringent flavours associated with these varieties, and become super sweet and complex. Most farmers will have a mix of 1-3 of these cultivars, which helps maintain diversity and mitigate the risk of disease and infestation.

Finding pickers is a constant challenge that has only worsened since the Covid-19 pandemic. Cherries are picked in three to four passes. The producers and pickers collect the ripe cherries in one block, then wait until there the remaining cherries begin ripening before doing another pass. Incentivising workers to only pick ripe cherries can be challenging, as their payments are usually based on volume, and the work is harder.

If a producer wants exceptional quality, they often have to follow the process very closely, or hand sort the cherries after picking, before they begin processing. Generally, the first and last passes produce lower quality. The second and third are considered to be the best, with more ripe cherries and uniform quality. When we can, we try to buy parchment harvested in the second and third passes. The climate in Colombia is always a challenge.

In Huila for example, it can sometimes rain non-stop for weeks during harvesting, fermenting and drying. In Nariño, the opposite can occur, with high temperatures and droughts. The growing conditions and practices can often compensate for that, and result in desirable outcomes.

Coffee in Colombia is a cash crop, meaning you can sell your coffees any day in big or small volumes and get direct payment in cash. Every small town in coffee growing areas will have purchasing points for parchment, called “bodegas”. These are run by local traders who resell to exporters, exporters themselves, growers associations, cooperatives or the FNC. In many cases, they are located in the same place and compete to get coffee from growers.

Most parchment buyers will assess the quality simply by looking at the physical attributes, and pay the producers based on the yield factor. They do not pay attention to individual flavour attributes and they just add the purchased coffee to a pile. Coffees from all the different producers get mixed and sold as a general “excelso” quality coffee from that region. There are exceptions, and these are the local buyers we work with.

We work with groups, exporters or cooperatives who have their own bodegas, and purchase parchment from producers that are part of our buying programs.

Dry fermentation is the most widely used method. The farmer usually has a small ‘beneficio’, a small manual or electric pulper, and a fermentation tank. They pulp the cherries in the afternoon and send the beans directly to the fermentation tank from the pulper. The coffee can sit there for one to two days, depending on the temperature. Higher temperatures will speed up the fermentation process, and lower temperature will slow it down.

Some producers do intermediate rinsing with water, which can also help them control the process. Some producers use the wet fermentation method, meaning they add water to the tank after pulping. Some of Colombia’s best coffees are fermented this way. They change the water several times, which slows down the fermentation time and provides a larger window between properly fermented and over fermented. It also establishes more consistency, as producers can skim off the floaters during the rinse and gather a better selection.

Methods for washing and grading vary widely. Some producers have channels, some don’t. The channels are often short, and they don’t require a huge amount of water. Producers normally stir the coffee in the channels before they remove floaters. Producers without channels will commonly wash the coffees in the fermentation tank, and skim off the floaters before sending the coffee to the drying table.

Smallholders in regions like Huila, Tolima, and Nariño, usually sun-dry their coffees on rooftops or in parabolic dryers that almost work as green houses. There are many different variations and construction types, but all of them can generally protect the coffee from rain. In many places, the climate is inconsistent throughout the day. We see consistently great coffees from producers who have drying systems with good ventilation that allow them to reduce the humidity of the coffee to less than 11% between 10 to 18 days.

In places like Antioquia and Quindio, it is more common to use mechanical dryers. We generally avoid buying coffees that have been dried mechanically, as they have not displayed the best qualities in regard to flavour and shelf-life.