The current seasonal line-up of our Burning Cliff seasonal blend consists of a naturally processed Acaiá variety from the Santa Lucia farm in Brazil (60%) blended with an organic, washed Caturra and Castillo mix from Los Alpes farm in Colombia (40%). Let's explore the stories behind each coffee.
Los Alpes, Tolima, Colombia
Los Alpes Farm in the Tolima region of Colombia
Los Alpes belongs to Mauricio Lucuara ́s family since 2008. However, his family has been producing coffee for four generations. As soon as they purchased their farm they made a decision to focus on quality coffee through the way they treat the land. He and his wife, Maribel Andrade, found in coffee a stable source of income but also discovered their joint passion. They know that a great cup of coffee comes from hard work and dedication on every step of the production and it taught them that being careful with the details is essential to get an even better cup.
Pulper and fermentation tanks (above)
Removing the under ripe floating coffee cherries
The farm is located at 1850 - 1900 MASL. The cherries are hand-picked with only the ripest fruits picked at any given pass. The picked cherries are then pulped straight into the fermentation tank. Mario estimates that this dry fermentation usually takes about 24 hours. They normally stir the coffees in tanks or small channels before the floating cherries are removed and the coffees are rinsed. The washed cherries are then transferred to a parabolic dryer for drying for about 2 months.
Drying the coffee
Santa Lucia Farm, Serra das Abelhas, Brazil
The Santa Lucia farm is owned by Antonio Wander Garcia since 1994 and has evolved into a family project with the whole family working together with the employees to create this very special coffee! The farm is located at 950 - 1020 MASL.
Andre Garcia and family
Initially, the farm had 62 hectares of land dedicated to cattle, however, in 1998, the owners decided that it was time to invest in another type of agribusiness. They began planting coffee, first dedicating only 8 hectares of land to it. This number has grown over the years and today the farm counts on 123 hectares of land, dedicating 30 hectares for coffee and has an annual average production of 1000 bags.
The remaining areas are represented by native forests which were 25% recovered, because when the farm was bought, these forests didn't exist. In 2016, they decided to focus on producing high quality coffees and their strategy has paid off - being placed 6th in the naturally processed coffees at the Cup of Excellence contest.
Handpicking the cherries
The cherries are handpicked when evenly ripe and then sorted for over and under ripe cherries. The coffees are processed naturally, meaning the whole cherries are dried which is done on a cement patio.