Colombia Finca El Embrujo

The Growing Region: Caldas Department, Paisa

Areas of the Caldas Department are located within the Eje Cafetero – ‘Coffee Axis’ – the first major coffee producing region in Colombia. For years, Caldas was considered the most popular and highly sought-after coffee growing region in Colombia. Tropical rainforest conditions, volcanic soil and a wealth of rivers and streams in Eje Cafetero make the area ideal for coffee cultivation.

Today, producers in Caldas are increasingly focused on high-quality coffee production. They are known for being incredibly attentive and hard-working, earning themselves the affectionate name ‘juiciosos’ (literally: sensible/wise). In the off-season they work hard to develop new, experimental processing methods and plant new varieties of Arabica.

Colombia Embrujo: About The Coffee

Grown by Ignacio Rodriguez on his family farm in Caldas, he invests heavily in high quality and sustainable farming practices. His team are paid well above the going rate, and he has recently built an on-farm microbiology lab to test different fermentation and processing methods.

The profile of this coffee has been developed after meticulous experimentation with anaerobic and aerobic fermentation techniques. Intense fruit flavour, boozy and wine-like notes are front and centre of this magical coffee.

Cultivation & Processing

Ignacio takes an experimental approach to development. He is increasing the density of trees per hectare and also has a large nursery to supply high quality seedlings of varieties such as Geisha and Pink Bourbon, as well as growing native shade trees that will improve soil fertility and tree health.

The pulp from processing the washed coffees is saved and applied to the coffee trees as fertiliser, with an aim to reduce chemical fertilizer use by 20 – 25%. The on-farm microbiology lab was originally built to test different fermentation and processing methods but instead Ignacio has turned his focus to soil application. With the lab’s research, they are inoculating compost with microorganisms that will speed up the composting process, balance carbon and nitrogen and generally increase the fertility of the compost. (One ton of which captures five tons of carbon emissions)

Harvest & Post Harvest

The cherries are selectively hand picked by harvesters, once at the on-farm processing centre, the cherry is floated to remove underripes and then transported to moving belts where the women hand sort to remove any damaged cherry. It is then placed in crates to ferment for 36 – 120 hours, depending on the ambient temperature and dried in mechnical dryers- this enables Igancio to control the temperature and process consistently on a larger scale. Once dried the cherry is placed into bags and rested before export.

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. It boasts a wide range of climates and geographic conditions that, in turn, produce their own unique flavours in coffee. This also means that harvest times are incredibly varied, between all of 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.

Colombia has quickly expanded its certification options over the past decade. The most common certifications available are Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ and Organic.