Region: Caldas, Colombia

Altitude: 1800 MASL

Variety: Gesha

Process: Natural

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Alex Arango is a producer of the Red Association, Villamaría. This association is composed of producers across this unique mountainous region of Caldas. The region is afforded a unique scenario, with several microclimates sitting side by side across the hills. Here, cold air currents swoop down from the snowy mountains of Santa Isabel and the active Volcan Nevado del Ruiz, improving air quality, circulation, and pollination, whilst cooling the air temperature that surrounds the growing cherries! 

Producers here sell cherry instead of parchment coffee, which ensures the highest quality coffee can be processed from their land, without having to upkeep the machinery and physically process the coffee from seed to dry parchment for sale. Receiving payment for cherry means a producer receives more money, as the upkeep and time to process coffee is removed from the equation. The sale of whole cherries to a processing station is uncommon in Colombia, but seen in many other coffee-producing countries. 

Once sold, the coffee is transported down the mountain to Villamaría’s processing station, called Jamaica, (said ham-ay-ka). It sits within the perfect climate for drying naturally processed coffee, some 500 metres lower than the buying station, where it is far warmer. Like many coffee producers in Colombia, producers of Villamaría had historically been promised higher prices and the purchase of a farmer's entire crop by large institutions in the past. Having never delivered on this promise, understandably, faith in new ventures had greatly diminished amongst producers.

La Colmena Natural

This phenomenal gesha was selected from the farm of producer Alex Arango, La Colmena. La Colmena translates as The Beehive, a name which perfectly visualises the abundance of bees that pollinate the gesha trees during the flowering season.  

La Colmena neighbours the Villamaría buying station, so Alex is able to transport the cherry from his farm to the buying point swiftly. Alex contributes other varieties from his land to the larger Villamaría community lots. Upon delivering this gesha lot, Alex received 30% more profits than his typical harvest would garner.

For the natural process, freshly harvested cherry is delivered to La Aurora where it is floated, sorted and left to rest in cherry for 24 hours. The cherries are transported to Jamaica the following day where they undergo a further 48 hours of fermentation in cherry.

They are then taken to drying beds in the greenhouse for around 15 days before being finished in the mechanical dryer for 3-4 days. For us this lot is brimming with pineapple, blueberry, violet, and cola notes.