El Trebol Santiago Rodriguez Ombligon Anaerobic Natural

Santiago Rodriguez grew up working alongside his father at Finca El Trebol, a farm passed down through the family 27 years ago. Today Santiago manages the farm himself, and he has built the 3-hectare farm into a family enterprise. Two full-time workers care for around 15,000 coffee trees growing among yucca, plantain, lemon and tangerine trees, supporting both biodiversity and food security.

The Ombligon variety has been hailed as having great prospects for high cup quality, however it is still a relatively 'new’ addition on Colombia’s coffee landscape. As such, it’s still fairly rare. Santiago wasn’t daunted by the ‘new’ factor, though. After seeing the success of his uncle’s Ombligon crop and realizing the climate and altitude of his own farm matched, Santiago decided to give cultivation a try. He sourced seeds directly from his uncle and invested in creating the right conditions to help the coffee thrive, focusing on quality from day one.

During harvest season Santiago hires up to 20 local workers to selectively harvest ripe cherry, making a pass every three to four weeks. For this Anerobic Natural lot, once selected, cherry is placed in sealed plastic bags covered in jute bags to ferment in an anaerobic environment for 70 to 100 hours. After fermentation, Santiago places the cherry on raised beds inside parabolic dryers to control moisture levels while drying. Cherry is carefully raked and monitored for up to 20 days to ensure consistent, even drying.

The Huila region is one of the most well-known coffee growing areas of Colombia. The Department of Huila has a population of 1.125 million and is located in the southwest of the country. The capital of the department is Neiva, a city of about 380,000.  

Along with Cauca and Nariño, Huila is one the three departments where the Colombian Massif is located. A massif is a group of mountain ranges and the Colombian Massif, which is known locally as Nudo de Almaguer, provides up to 70% of safe drinking and agricultural water for the Colombian population. 

The Magdalena River, Colombia’s largest river, runs through the region, providing plenty of water for coffee farming and generating (directly and indirectly) up to 86% of Colombia's GDP. The mountain range also features the fertile volcanic soil so typical to the Andean Mountains.