This 900kg micro-lot was produced by Miguel Loaiza and his family, on their 2.5-hectare farm El Diamante (meaning “the diamond” in Spanish). The farm is located in the Alto del Naranjal mountain range, at an astonishing elevation of 2,115m above sea level, in the outskirts of the main town of Buesaco, in Colombia’s Nariño state. Here, Miguel tends to over 10,000 Caturra and Colombia variety trees – two high-yielding varieties with good potential for quality when grown at higher altitudes.

Coffee cherries were selectively hand-harvested, with most labour being provided by Miguel and his family. They were processed using the washed method at the farm’s ‘micro-beneficio’ (mill). The coffee was pulped using a small manual or electric pulper, and then placed into a fermentation tank, where it spent 36 hours, and then washed using cold, fresh water from surrounding streams. Coffee was then graded by density in washing channels and washed again using clean water.

Miguel then carefully dried the resulting parchment on a combination of his concrete patio in the sun and parabolic beds. The latter are constructed a bit like a ‘hoop house’ greenhouse, and protect the coffee from the rain and prevent condensation from dripping back onto the drying beans. These greenhouses are made out of plastic sheets and have adjustable walls to help with airflow, and temperature control to ensure the coffee can dry slowly and evenly. Luckily, Nariño is blessed with some of the best drying conditions in the country due to the micro-climate and high elevation of the region, providing lower relative humidity, more wind and more sunny days than other areas of the country.

Credit : Melbourne Coffee Merchant