Alonso Bustos El Mirador Tabi FW

Alonso Bustos plans to be on his farm every day for the rest of his life and continue improving it each day. His coffee is the result of conscious effort and intention, he says, and he wants those drinking it to know the time and care he put into it.

Alonso is a second-generation coffee producer who’s been cultivating coffee for over 50 years. He inherited Finca El Mirador through his wife. Today, they live on the farm with their 3 children and 2 grandchildren. Alonso’s children inspired him to start producing specialty coffee in 2017. To further improve coffee quality, Alonso has planted Papayo, a variety prized for its large cherries and high productivity. His grandchildren are showing interest in becoming coffee farmers themselves.

This is a unique Tabi lot. Tabi is a cross between Typica, Bourbon and Timor created by CENICAFE. It was released in 2002 and combines coffee leaf rust resistance with the good cup quality of Bourbon and Typica. Similar to those two parents, Tabi is tall with long branches. However, Tabi has slightly larger fruits and seeds and can be grown at high altitudes, and in high density, with up to 3,000 trees per hectare. The name comes from the word “tabi,” meaning “good” in Guambiano, the dialect of a native Colombia tribe. 

In order to produce specialty coffee, Alonso worked with hired laborers to ensure only ripe, red cherry is collected. Cherry pulped and fermented. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid on marquesinas to dry. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying.

Cuatro Vientos is a family-owned exporter based in Colombia. Founded in 2018 by Julian & Yonatan Gonzalez and based in Huila, the company is named after the Gonzalez’s first farmnwhere the brothers spent much of their childhood.  Yonatan and Julian learned much of what they know from their father, Armando Gonzalez who was a “pergaminero,” someone who bought and sold parchment coffee. Sucafina has worked with Cuatro Vientos since 2021. 

Through their partnership with Sucafina, Cuatro Vientos is able to more effectively reach new markets. This, in turn, means they can work with more farmers and develop better programs to support their farmers.

Cuatro Vientos has 3 purchasing points in Huila: Acevedo, Santa Maria and Algeciras. These points are more than just places where they buy coffee, though. They are service hubs where farmers can access services to maintain quality and reach new markets. For Cuatro Vientos, farmers are long term partners who are focused on quality.

With these three locations, Cuatro Vientos is able to source fresh coffee year-round. In their unique position across Huila, they can tap into two alternative harvest seasons within Huila. The northern Huila harvest occurs in the first half of the year and the southern Huilaharvest happens during the second half of the year, providing high-quality coffees year round.

They also own 2 warehouses that are strategically placed in Acevedo (in Southern Huila) and Campo Alegre (in Northern Huila). The warehouses provide an array of important services to farmers. Farmers can dry their coffee, store dried parchment in silos and learn to grade and evaluate coffees in the cupping labs. 

Cuatros Vientos adds value by offering logistics and milling support to the over 30 farms that they work with. These farmers are all specialty oriented and Cuatro Vientos’ focus on specialty processing helps farmers ensure that their coffees are handled properly.

One of Cuatro Vientos’ biggest impacts is their credit line offerings. Growers need financing at the beginning of the harvest and it is difficult for them to access financing through traditional banks due to a lack of financial documentation. By providing financing through their partner, Bancolombia, Cuatro Vientos is supporting long term farmer profitability. They also provide financial education workshops that increase farmers’ financial literacy and promotes overall success.  

They also provide marketing services for farmers, helping them manage samples and tell their stories. Importantly, they act as an integral part of a two-way conversation between producers and roasters about what they’re looking for, what they can do and how they can best achieve the results they’re looking for.