Hacienda Venecia Castillo Anaerobic Natural 

Juan Pablo Echeverri Londoño runs Hacienda Venecia as the fourth generation of his family to work the land. The Echeverri family first settled in Antioquia during the colonial period before moving to Manizales, and Hacienda Venecia has been theirs since the turn of the 20th century. That long connection to one place shapes how Juan Pablo and his team work today: traceability is key and each lot can be traced back to the plot it came from, the people who grew it and the methods used to process it. 

For decades, Hacienda Venecia produced only Fully washed coffee before turning its focus to specialty in the early 2000s. Today, the farm produces between 200 and 300 tons a year, and around 75% of it scores above SCA specialty standards. Over time, the team has also added Natural and Honey processing and controlled fermentation to its range. That consistency comes from keeping everything in-house: the farm runs its own wet and dry mills, electronic cherry sorting, fermentation facilities and a cupping lab where every lot is checked before it ships. Solar panels on the property help power the operation with renewable energy.  

The farm sits within the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where Hacienda Venecia works as a hub for agriculture, coffee processing and coffee tourism. Visitors can stay at the hacienda, cup different coffees and tour the coffee plots. 

Hacienda Venecia is located in Manizales, in the department of Caldas, with coffee plots between 1,300 and 1,650 meters above sea level. Soils are volcanic and rich in minerals and the farm’s own springs supply its water. Coffee grows under native shade alongside 60 hectares of protected forest, which forms part of a 3,000-hectare biological corridor. 

Castillo makes up 85% of the coffee grown at Hacienda Venecia, and the team gives it the same attention it gives its own varieties. Since the 1960s, the family has selected and tested plants on the farm, looking for the balance between reliable yields and quality in the cup. That work led Juan Pablo to start a breeding project in 2015. Catiope HV-055 and Catiope HV48, both crosses between Sarchimor and selected Ethiopian progenies, now grow alongside Castillo and the team has been adapting them to the farm’s microclimate ever since. 

That rigor carries into how the farm is managed day to day. Soil sensors at different depths measure moisture in real time, while the team records temperature, sunshine hours, wind and rainfall to build a historical database of everything that affects the crop. Juan Pablo’s team uses this data to anticipate shifts in climate and stay ahead of pests such as coffee berry borer and leaf rust. 

Juan Pablo and his team selectively hand-pick cherries only at full ripeness for this lot. At the wet mill, electronic cherry selection sorts the harvest before the team floats the cherries to remove any underripes.

Cherry is then placed in sealed containers for 72 hours. After fermentation, they are delivered to dry either on raised beds in the sun, with workers raking regularly, or in mechanical dryers at a low-and-slow drying temperature. 
 

Parts of Caldas are located in Eje Cafetero, the Colombian Coffee Growing Axis. Eje Cafetero was the first major coffee-producing region in Colombia. For many years, the region held the distinction of being the most well-known and highly sought-after Colombian coffee region. Tropical rainforest conditions, volcanic soil and a wealth of rivers and streams in Eje Cafetero make the area ideal for coffee growing.

Today, producers in Caldas are increasingly focused on high-quality coffee production. These producers have become common and well-known enough to earn an affectionate colloquial name in the region. They’re called juiciosos (literally: sensible/wise), which in this case means hard-working and attentive to detail. In addition to finding ways to perfect existing processing methods, juiciosos are experimenting with new processing methods and planting new varieties of coffee.