About This Coffee
Victor grew up loving coffee and learning about coffee production from his father. His inherited Finca El Sueldo and continues to focus on high quality coffee production. Thanks to Victor’s hard work focusing on coffee quality, he was able to send 2 of his daughters to university where they studies social science and law respectively. Next, Victor hopes to buy a “garrucha” to make it easier to transport inputs from his home to the farm, about 1 kilometer away.
Finca El Sueldo is named for a tree Victor’s father planted on the land many years ago. Today, Victor lives with his wife and their 3 daughters on the farm.
Cultivation
Coffee is grown under shade, which creates and unique microclimate for producing specialty coffee. Combined with the high altitude of 1,850 meters above sea level, the warm days and cool nights are ideal for cultivating sweet, dense cherry.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Victor hires 6 to 7 workers to help him selectively handpick only ripe, red cherry. Following harvest, cherry lightly ferments overnight and is processed on the farm the next morning. Victor floats cherry to remove any over- or underripes. Then, he pulps and ferments coffee for 15 hours. Victor washes coffee in clean water and lays parchment to dry on patios. Victor rakes parchment frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 8 to 15 days to dry. Victor hopes to build parabolic dryers to improve his drying process.
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.