About This Coffee
Arles Muñoz’s Finca El Salado lies high in the hills surrounding the town of La Unión in Colombia’s Nariño Department. The farm’s 2 hectares sit a full 2,000 meters above sea level. Cherry development is slow at this altitude, ensuring a sweet and even profile. All Arles’ trees are Castillo, helping further protect them from disease and ensuring good yields, which is crucial on such a small farm.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Arles selectively handpicks cherry and pulps it in a traditional drum pulper. He ferments coffee for approximately 48 hours and then washes it in clean water. Arles lays parchment in thin layers in parabolic dryers where takes approximately 15 days to dry. Once bagged, Arles rests parchment for about 10 days and then delivers it to Cooperative COOMERCIACAFE’s warehouses where it will sit for an additional 90 days before being readied for sale and export.
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.