Colombia
Huila
Jose Jaidir Losada and Kyle Bellinger
Finca El Mirador
Caturra, Variedad Colombia
Washed
2017
Cranberry, Orange, Molasses
1500 meters
N/A
70 kg GrainPro
SOLD OUT
Finca El Mirador is located in the tiny town of Picuma, in the Suaza municipality of Huila, one of Colombia’s southern departments. The farm is co-owned by Jose Jaidir Losada and Kyle Bellinger of Neat Coffee. Jose started the farm more than ten years ago with his brother and also owns two other properties nearby. Jose also works as the head of QC at the local Coocentral coop, where he cups coffees brought in by regional members. Several years ago, Kyle was traveling in Colombia when he met Jose. Jose acted on the potential he saw in the improvements they discussed and Kyle became a parter of Finca El Mirador. They invested and acquired another .8 hectares and built a new wet mill. They also are currently converting the farm to organic so they can have the very best soil health and microorganisms possible. Beyond coffee, Finca El Mirador has planted corn, papaya, and plantain and a has a small hive of active honey bees.
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.
