Colombia: Roberto Calderon Farm, Caturra

Cupping Notes: A juicy coffee with complex raw honey sweetness. Aromas of flower(star jasmine) and flavors of raisin, tropical kumquat which opens up beautifully as it cools. This coffee also has the caffeine that you look for in a coffee.

Country of Origin: Colombia

Region: Pedredgal

Varietal: Caturra

Elevation: 5500-6200 ft

Processing Method: Washed

Acidity= 2 (on a scale of 1-5) Low acidity

Body= 3 (on a scale of 1-5) Medium body

Roast= 3 (on a scale of 1-5) Medium roast

The Pedregal region is one of the most amazing coffee growing regions in all of Colombia. It is made up of many small villages that dot the mountainous peaks up and around the Pedregal valley floor.  These villages are home to many small, family farmers, most with less than 2 hectares of land. And by small, I mean that most of them are made up of less than 50 people. These farmers process their coffee in the “traditional” manner, with all washing, fermenting, etc handled onsite.

Roberto Calderon comes from the village of San Miguel within Pedregal. The terrain in Pedregal where coffee is grown is very steep, with his farm situated at a dizzying 1670-1890 meters above sea level. His farm is mainly planted in Caturra, with some Bourbon and Typica mixed in. His coffee is picked by he and his family, and then traditionally wet-processed at his farm. They manually depulp their fruit on hand-crank machines, ferment in tiled tanks, wash thoroughly in a second tiled tank and dry their coffee gently on covered, raised beds. It’s a simple process but a beautiful one and it allows them to see the entire production process through from crop to dried parchment.