Colombia Narino El Mirador Alba Diela Lopez Anaerobio Honey Caturra GrainPro

Coffee Background

Looking for an award-winning coffee from an exquisite growing region and grown by a next generation woman producer? Alba Diela López Riascos made her presence known to the international coffee world with a plus 90 cup score and a sixth-place finish in the 2018 Colombian.
Cup of Excellence. A spectacular result, but Alba’s success and dedication runs much deeper. Perhaps the location of her 17-acre farm called El Mirador, in the community of Medina Espejo in the municipality of Buesaco,
is worthy of some discussion. Two volcanos (Doña Juana in the north and Galeras in the south) are responsible for many of the rich mineral traits found in the soil composition. Nariño’s proximity to the equator also means intense exposure to the sun (relatively
constant and powerful year-round), which influences the cherry maturation rate. The municipality of Buesaco, which has an interesting micro-climate caused by warm air that rises from the canyons at night and acts like a protective blanket for the coffee plants.
As a result of these combined attributes, coffee plants passively absorb the sun’s energy during the day and then come alive at night when the conditions are less harsh. This translates into concentrated flowering and long cherry maturation periods. All of these factors produce exceptional coffee frequently rewarded in the Colombia Cup of Excellence, including the 2017 first place coffee also from Medina Espejo. But another important factor is
the persistent support of an export company, which builds a producer’s confidence and capability to produce excellent coffee. This is certainly the case between Inconexus, a Colombian export company, and Alba.
Over the years Inconexus has developed a successful model of sourcing specialty coffee in some of the most renowned growing regions of Colombia. The key is creating a support network for producers who can also learn from one another. Through this model Alba has implemented exquisite processing protocols that include meticulous cherry selection and innovative drying strategies. This honey processed coffee is an example of precisely executed methods of drying coffee while the mucilage remains attached to the bean, which reduces water consumption by eliminating the need to wash the mucilage from the bean.