Colombia, Amigos Del Huila

This sub-regional blend from Tarqui, Huila is built from four producer’s microlots. These are all smallholder, ecological minded farmers, and are all paid well above market price from our importing partners at Shared Source.

This year, both Darabiel and Samuel have worked to expand their homes and build bodegas ​for better coffee storage. Darabiel has also purchased a Brixometer, and he’s using it to measure the sugars in cherries for better picking. This is the first time Shared Source has purchased from Jose, though he has been a member of Aso-Tarqui for several years. He is showing a lot of promise with very sweet, well-processed coffees.

PROCESSING: ​Each producer has a slightly unique way of processing cherries, but all are diligent in making sure that only ripe cherries are picked. Most leave the cherries in a carefully sealed bag (often re-used Grain Pro) in a cool, shaded area (often in the ceramic fermentation tanks) for 12-24 hours to begin the fermentation process in the cherries. From there, coffee is de-pulped and left to ferment without water (Darabiel and Samuel leave the coffee for a low-oxygen, anaerobic-style fermentation in pickle barrels; Hernan and Jose ferment in open fermentation tanks). Drying is low and slow in covered and ventilated dryers- for anywhere between 2-3 weeks.

PRICING TRANSPARENCY: Shared Source purchases parchment coffee directly from Darabiel and Samuel; both Jose and Hernan are members of the Aso-Tarqui group and they purchase their coffee through Aso-Tarqui. Shared Source covers transport cost from Huila to the mill in Valle del Cauca. They paid between 1,650,000-1,750,000 pesos per ​carga (125 pounds of parchment coffee, this is the unit farmers sell their coffee in) for the coffees that make up this lot.