Colombians in the house

This summer's harvest of Desarrollo is here. We are so grateful to have this coffee again this year and It tastes delicious!  A heavy base of caramel like a Werther's Original, followed with lots of fruit like honey-dew melon in the mid-palate highlighted by sensational flavors of hibiscus, cola, and sassafras.

I visited the Desarrollo association this past August in Gigante, Huila with Alejandro Cadena from Virmax. The Desarrollo assocation is comprised of 82 farmers. We drove out to the countryside to see one of the modestly sized farms  that make up the association.  Alejandro was a great person to travel with because he is very knowledgeable about coffee growing and spends a lot of time educating the farmers. During our visit, his main topics of discussion were rust (a quickly spreading plant disease that has been destroying coffee shrubs) and creating profiles for drying the coffee. There are a lot of details and concerns with growing coffee. If any of the steps of growing or processing are overlooked, than the quality of the coffee is largely compromised. Each farmer contributes micro-lots that are sorted by score and flavor and blended accordingly. Each farmer has their own washing station and their own drying beds. Because there is so much rain in Huila, The coffee is dried in what looks like a greenhouse. the roof of the drying station is comprised of a tarp set up like a large tent and the floor of the structure is raised about two feet off the ground and is porous allowing the coffee to breath.  The next stop on our visit was to Los Cauchos where the Idolos association is located. The farms are located on rugged, steep hillsides with great views of the valley. The area is filled with beautiful trees, creeks, and waterfalls. They are plentiful due to the massive amount of rainfall. The coffee we have selcted from this region is then sent to the Descafecol plant in Manizales, where they use Natural Ethyl Acetate derived from sugar cane. The sugar cane is fermented and it produces Ethyl Acetate naturally, which is used to remove the caffeine from this coffee. The product of this process is the best tasting decaffeinated coffee I have ever tasted. You would never know it was a decaf! This coffee is rich with an aroma of a stout, flavors of honey, and soft tropical fruits like papaya. Both of these coffees are available in our online store. You have to taste these coffees to know what we are talking about!  Buy Desarrollo Buy Los Idolos Decaf