COLOMBIA ORIGIN TRIP REPORT

Over the past decade, Colombia's specialty coffee sector has seen remarkable growth, not just in production volume but also in diversity and quality. During this time, the range of available coffee varietals has expanded significantly, along with the processing methods used to enhance each varietal's unique cup profile.

This transformation has been nothing short of revolutionary, occurring in a relatively short span of time for an origin that was, until recently, primarily known for producing clean, mild-washed coffees—mainly of the Castillo and Colombia varietals, both developed and promoted by the Colombian Coffee Growers’ Federation (FNC). Today, however, you can easily source Colombian Geisha, Pacamara, Java, Sudan Rume, Mokka, and virtually any colour variation of Bourbon imaginable. These coffees, in turn, can be processed through a wide variety of methods, all designed to enhance and modulate the specific characteristics of the targeted cup profiles.

Across this same timeframe, Bennetts have journeyed alongside the Colombian specialty coffee industry, developing long-lasting relationships with some of the brightest names in that origin’s specialty scene. We have quickly moved from bringing in a handful of bags to regularly shipping and airfreighting some of the most complex and interesting coffees in the Australian marketplace, many of which have graced the top spots of both the Australian and International competition scenes over the last few years. 

Regular communication with suppliers and travel to origin have been key aspects of the development and growth of Bennetts’ specialty portfolio, and our latest origin trip to Colombia was part of this process. 

No trip to Colombia is complete without stopping at Café Granja La Esperanza (CGLE), with whom Bennetts have had a fruitful relationship spanning over a decade, which was precisely what we did as our first port of call. We were picked up at Cali airport by Alejandra Giron, our account manager, who was waiting for us with some freshly brewed Cerro Azul Geisha filter coffee - a welcome start to the day, having only arrived in Colombia the previous evening and thoroughly jet-lagged.  

CGLE are, in many respects, part of the founding fathers of high-end specialty coffees in Colombia having been amongst the first to introduce such varietals as Geisha, Sudan Rume and Mokka into the country. Moreover, they were also at the forefront of innovation in coffee processing, spearheading the development of natural and honey-processed coffee in an origin that, as mentioned earlier, was all about washed mild coffee. It cannot be understated how much CGLE and their cohort paved the way for the current crop of specialty producers to enjoy the success they are experiencing today.  

Our first stop with CGLE was at the Cerro Azul farm, considered the crown jewel of their operation. Cerro Azul is a 17-hectare farm near Trujillo, in Valle del Cauca, in which CGLE exclusively produces some of the best Geisha in the world at between 1700 and 2000 masl. The fruit that comes off the trees is individually evaluated by CGLE owner Rigoberto Herrera himself, and those that don’t make the cut are replaced at the end of their strict 7-year production cycle by new plants that have been rigorously selected by the agronomic team at CGLE. Only the very best can remain, which is why Cerro Azul geisha is so sought after globally. When we visited the farm, they were in between crops and at the end of a dry spell. The trees were nevertheless looking extremely healthy and were laden with a mixture of unripe green cherries and flowers poised to bloom following the next bout of good rains. Had we visited a week or two later we would have been welcomed with a sea of white and the typical jasmine/orange blossom scents of the coffee flower. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, but it was reassuring to see that a healthy amount of coffee would be coming off the trees in the near future.

Cerro Azul Farm - Colombia, 2024

Our next stop that day was at the eponymously named La Esperanza farm, just a few minutes up the road from Cerro Azul. There is a wider range at that farm when it comes to varietals, as CGLE does not focus solely on Geisha (although they do have some at La Esperanza as well!). Of note was the Mandela varietal, one of the new lines developed at CGLE which is both high scoring and high producing. This was something we witnessed firsthand during our farm walk, where 2-year-old trees were producing as if they were in their third or fourth year. The aim for this variety is to replace all current Castillo and Colombia plants, and to become CGLE’s premium volume producer going forward.  

That night we travelled further north to Caicedonia, where CGLE has their warehouse and into which they have incorporated a brand-new cupping lab, offices, cool storage and their microlot mill and packing facilities. The next morning, we visited the facility, where we had an extensive cupping session of some of GCLE’s amazing range.  

It’s worth mentioning that over the years we’ve worked with CGLE they have been extremely focused and passionate about refining the different production and processing protocols to attain consistent, high-scoring and stable profiles. What we experienced on the cupping table that morning was proof CGLE has excelled at this.  

In the afternoon we had a brief drive up to Las Margaritas and Potosi farms (which face each other across a valley) where we saw a lot of renovation of plantations. On the Potosi side, 80% of the coffee trees had been ripped out, replacing the old Colombia and Castillo varietals with Geisha and CGLE17, another of the new selections with a strong Geisha-like profile. On the Las Margaritas side there has been an expansion of the Laurina area as this varietal has seen a surge in demand in recent times. This has likely been due to CGLE refining a natural process for Laurina which has been extremely well received globally. Las Margaritas’ Sudan Rume area is in its second year of renewal which means we will start seeing more of this coffee hit the market after a hiatus due to lower production. I’m sure many will be looking forward to the uniquely herbal & umami profile returning to a café near you! 

After what was a brief yet enriching visit (as always), we bade Alejandra and the team at CGLE farewell with the hopes of returning soon. 

La Esperanza - Colombia, 2024

The next stop in our Colombian specialty tour took us to the mountain range to Pitalito, located in South Huila. There, we caught up with some old friends of Bennetts in the form of the Lohas Beans team (Juan Pablo, Camila and Ana Maria), as well as some relatively new friends: brothers Nestor and Adrian Lasso from El Diviso farm, brothers Jhoan and Diego Vergara from Las Flores farm, Jhonatan Gasca from Zarza (Jhonatan’s family’s group of farms), and Paola Trujillo of Patio Bonito farm in Cauca who travelled over 7 hours on bus to come and meet us.  

This young group of not just farmers, but also innovators and entrepreneurs are at the forefront of what we could call the next generation of Colombian Specialty producers. We spent the next three and a half days visiting their farms and facilities, as well as cupping a huge range of their spectacular coffees and getting to know the individuals behind the coffees themselves. With the help and guidance of export partner Lohas Beans, this group has taken the specialty coffee scene by storm in a very short period, seemingly coming out of nowhere! 
 
So, what makes this group of people stand apart from their cohort? We believe that one big part is a strong sense of community. Everyone was happy to share knowledge and resources, as well as celebrating each other’s successes, much like an extended family, which included the Lohas Beans team. 

Another key aspect is a willingness to experiment and try new processes to modulate and enhance flavours to attain desired cup profiles. These farms have adopted several distinct processing techniques. Coffee cherries undergo oxidation and fermentation as one method. Another involves using "mostos" to enhance fermentations (stay tuned on our socials for more details on this process). Additionally, thermal shocks are used to halt fermentation, with each of these techniques now standard across all farms in the group. These processes are closely tied to meticulous record-keeping, allowing for the faithful replication of desired profiles while also tracking any variations in specific lots that may lead to coffees falling outside the expected standards, whether for better or worse.

Las Flores Farm - Colombia, 2024

We were also extremely privileged to be joined during the Huila leg of the trip by Dr Manuel Diaz, an eminence in coffee processing from Mexico with over 30 years’ experience in the industry. He shared his insights on the effects of processing environment, terroir, microbial load and varietals among other factors on the final result in the cup. His contributions during this visit were truly eye opening, as he validated the farmers’ results from a scientific and experience-based point of view, while also providing advice on where things might be tweaked to further fine tune their processes and improve results.  

One other thing worth mentioning is these farmers also identified the need to expand their commercial horizons as one cannot grow one’s business on microlots alone. As a result, each of the farmers have taken their coffee-processing knowledge and have found ways to increase their output volumes, while adding value to others’ production.  

The Lasso brothers for instance, buy and process mixed varietal cherry from neighbouring farms, and sell the resulting green coffee under the Carambolo and Las Moras labels. The Vergara brothers on the other hand have started a project called Peñas Blancas, which buys and processes single varietals from neighbouring farms using their proprietary processing techniques. Jhonatan Gasca processes coffee from the Zarza group of farms owned by his extended family under the Bombona label, while Paola Trujillo leads a women’s coffee group in Cauca which aims to showcase smallholder women farmers.  

All in all, our minds were blown during this part of the trip, and there is so, so much more we’d like to share… but suffice to say specialty coffee in Colombia is in a great place both with the old guard and the new, and we are so excited to keep bringing the incredible coffee to you.