Recommended Retail Price: £14/250g
Tasting notes: Sweet on the first sip and reminiscent of a buttery marzipan pastry or vanilla shortbread. A vibrant orange acidity and dark chocolate complexity round out the flavor experience.
Region: Garzón, Huila
Altitude: 1,460 m.a.s.l.
Variety: Castillo
Process: Washed
This excellent microlot from Colombia is a lovely counterpoint to the trend of funky, ferment-forward experimental process coffees from the origin. It’s a bright coffee with jammy stone fruit, layered sweetness and a creamy mouthfeel. We love Colombian coffees for their excellent depth of flavour and balance of sweetness and acidity. That balance will shine through however you decide to brew this bean.
Gustavo Figueroa is one of the 3,747 members of the Coocentral Cooperative, a primary coop in central Huila, one of Colombia’s most well-known coffee growing regions.
Gustavo established his farm, Lucitania, in 2006. Today it spans 60 hectares, with just over half dedicated to coffee production. This is a large farm by Colombian standards, where most farmers are smallholders, owning 2 to 3 hectares. At Lucitania the coffee is harvested by 40 seasonal pickers by hand before the fruit is removed and the beans are fermented in closed stainless steel tanks. After a final wash, they’re dried in a mechanical dryer to the correct moisture level for dry milling and export.
Coocentral Cooperative takes pride in their positive social impact. According to them, since 2005 they’ve invested $2.8 million in social programs. These initiatives encompass housing, university education, healthcare support (Coocentral covers 50% of hospital bills), funeral expenses, infrastructure development on farms, bonuses for fertiliser purchases made through the coop, life and natural disaster insurance, an in-house education system for young growers and growers' children, as well as pension funds. Growers receive 100% of the premium paid above the current market and daily purchasing prices.
