About This Coffee
At Finca Las Mercedes, Edgar Heladio Ossa Castillo is producing some of Huila’s best coffees. Quality competitions agree with us: in 2011 Edgar’s coffee won second place in the Pitalito Cup of Excellence.
Edgar and his family are careful to leave the lightest environmental footprint possible. All their organic waste is composted on the farm, along with any cherry pulp from processing and the nutrient-rich compost is invested back into the farm to nourish growing trees.
Cultivation
In order to protect the local watershed, they have planted 15- to 20-meter corridors along the entire farm with native trees and plants. This corridor provides a natural protective barrier and also serves as a habitat for local wildlife.
They produce a wide swathe of crops for their consumption including corn, beans, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, blackberries, garlic, carrots, yucca, plantains, lemons, oranges, pineapple and aloe. They also raise pigs.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Edgar and his family selectively handpick ripe, red cherry and process it on their farm. They pulp cherry and ferment it for 36 hours. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid to sundry. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 20 days for parchment to dry.
Coffee in Colombia
Colombia has been producing and exporting coffee renowned for their full body, bright acidity and rich aftertaste, since the early 19th century.
Colombia boasts a wide range of climates and geographic conditions that produce their own unique flavors in coffee. This also means that harvest times can vary quite a bit. In fact, between all its different regions, Colombia produces fresh crop nearly all year round.
The increasing focus on the specialty industry is changing the way traders and farmers do business. It is becoming more common for farmers to isolate the highest quality beans in their lots to market separately. These higher-quality lots are often sold under specific brands or stories.
Besides its wide variety of cup profiles, Colombia has quickly expanded its certification options over the past 10 years. The most common certifications available are Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and Organic.