Colombia
Nariño
Carlos Estrella
Finca La Estrella
Gesha
Natural
June
Black Currant, Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Lime
1970 meters
N/A
70 kg w/ GrainPro
SOLD OUT
Carlos Estrella takes very attentive care of Finca La Estrella, the farm belonging to his mother Aura Eliza Nupan, in the town of Buenos Aires in the municipality of La Union, Nariño. This lot is from the La Ramada lot of the farm. Carlos carefully selects ripe cherries and begins post-harvest processing by sorting out immature and over ripe cherries through removing “floaters” when the cherries are immersed in water. The next step is manually sorting cherries to ensure consistency.
Due to the farm’s humid climate, cherries dry for up to two months in a parabolic dryer where they are exposed to the sun during the day and moved constantly to avoid mold formation and to dry the coffee evenly. In the dryer, the cherries are covered overnight to avoid the early morning dew and maintain an even moisture content.
Carlos constantly observes climate conditions, as they tend to vary drastically. Dried cherries from Finca La Estrella’s are stored in a dry warehouse in jute bags for the first ten days and then rested until they are dry milled and placed into GrainPro. Both the coffee trees and the fruit they produce are treated with special care at Finca La Estrella.
Nariño is one of Colombia’s 32 Departments. It shares a southern border with Ecuador and is home to thousands of smallholder coffee producing families. Colombia’s three ranges of Andean mountains converge in Nariño, presenting ideal altitudes and fertile soil for high grown Arabica production.
Nariño’s particular geography and proximity to coastal and land borders have historically transformed it into corridors for illicit trade routes, resulting in unwarranted violence against residents of remote mountain farms. Today, thanks to the particularly resilient and fearless spirit of Nariño’s farmers, the small region is a respected nucleus of coffee innovation.
