Farm info

Santa Maria is named for the municipality of Santa Maria along the northwestern of the department of Huila where this coffee was grown. Three smallholders contributed to this one-of-a-kind coffee blend: Javier Trujillo of El Lote farm, Alvaro Perez of El Sinai, and Carmelo Velandia of Los Nogales.

Finca El Lote is located in the Los Pinos neighborhood of Santa Maria municipality at 1325masl. Javier grows Caturra, Castillo, and Colombia varieties of coffee and dry ferments the coffee for 40 hours before fully washing it and drying it in a parabolic dryer for 18-24 days.

Finca Sinai is located in the Santa Lucia neighborhood. Alvaro grows Caturra and Colombia coffee varieties at 1330masl. Coffee is dry fermented for 32 hours before being fully washed and dried on parabolic drying beds for 20-25 days. Finca Sinai’s

Finca Los Nogales, meaning walnut trees, is located in the neighborhood of Cisne, which means “swan.” Carmelo grows Caturra and Castillo coffee varieties at 1320masl and dry ferments coffee for 30 hours before washing it and drying it for 18-24 days in a parabolic dryer.

The climate on all three farms is windy with temperatures between 17° and 23° C. The complementary profiles of the coffee from these three farms lent themselves to be combined into this special microlot, which reflects the work of producers as individuals and as a collective involved in the shared success of the coffee producers of the Huila region.

Region

Huila

The Colombian Department of Huila is located in the southern portion of the country where the Central and Eastern ranges of the Andes mountains converge. Huila’s capitol city of Neiva is dry, flat, and desert-like, markedly different from the coffee regions further south.

Centered around the city of Pitalito, Huila’s coffee farms are predominately smallholder owned and over the past ten years have made consorted efforts to produce specialty coffee that reveals the full character of the region’s terroir. Selective manual harvesting, attentive processing, and careful post-harvest sorting all contribute to increasing recognition of the region.

Huila’s Departmental coffee committee, the local connection to the national Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, has invested notable resources into training producers in everything from fertilization to roasting. This, combined with producer enthusiasm, has created a regional culture of quality-focused production.

Huila holds important historic significance dating back to pre-Columbian cultures. The archeological site at San Augustin includes a large number of stone carvings, figures, and artifacts that offer a rare glimpse into the land’s past prior to colonialism.