fbpx

El Mesón Farm

Located in: Palestina, Huila, Colombia.

Altitude: 1.490 masl.

Process: Washed and natural.

Drying Method: Sun Drying.

Area: 12 hectares.

 

About farm

This producer began to collect information to understand the optimal point of collection and to be able to develop a processing method with which to maintain a consistent cup profile. Through direct observation and with the help of tools such as the refractometer, they began to separate cherries of different stages of maturity and thus they realized that this variety had a different behavior from those that were already cultivated, since the harvest was anticipated and the maturation was not completely. homogeneous in the tree for which it was necessary to carry out a selective harvest where first all the dark grains were collected and later the completely ripe grains. Additionally, the refractometer allowed them to realize that the brix degrees developed by the Rosé Bourbon in its optimal state of maturity, were superior to varieties such as caturro, however at that time they still did not know the potential that this could represent in processing, since At that time, Colombia only allowed the export of washed coffees and processing under other methods was not yet used.

 

Throughout the years the Guaca brothers continued learning and training in quality issues, they learned to taste, implemented a basic laboratory on the farm and this allowed them to have greater control over the quality of the coffee they processed, in addition this gave them the possibility to classify qualities and to be able to obtain better sales prices. The profits from the sale of coffee have been used to improve the infrastructure, expand the drying area and of course plant more coffee and venture into other varietals such as pacamara and geisha.

 

In the last 2 years, the processing of coffee by other methods has become very important in Colombia and the Guaca brothers were not left behind, they took different courses where they learned processing methods other than washing and this they have applied to develop new profiles from the pink bourbon. They have found that a much more complex cup profile can be obtained naturally and this is how after many tests, measurements, trial and error they have managed to perfect the natural anaerobic method, for which after carefully selecting the harvested cherries At their optimum point of maturity, they are put inside grainpro bags to which they then remove the excess air to later seal and leave the coffee there for 70 hours and then pass it to dehydration in a mechanical dryer and finish in the sun for 15 to 20 days . Andrés says that the key to this process is that the bags fill with CO2 produced by lactobacilli after 24 hours and remain inflated and tense, thus ensuring that the product is always in an anaerobic environment, if the bag is not inflated then they immediately change the packaging to prevent the coffee from spoiling. In addition to this, they monitor the temperature which must remain below 20ºC to ensure a slow and continuous process.

We are the match between quality,
sustainability and customer relation

Develop trustworthy relationship with our clients.

Promote transparency in every step of the process.

Sustainability for people and the planet.

Support, educate and grow our coffee community.