Looking for a Colombian with a beach view? Or maybe you prefer a snow capped peak. The Santa Marta Sierra Nevada in the department of Magdalena is a Caribbean coastal range distinct from the Andes range that makes up the majority of Colombia’s coffeelands. From the beach town of Santa Marta, it’s a short trek to the village of Palmor, where the snow capped peak, nearly 6000 meters above sea level, is hard to miss. This is where Dario Delgado and his family have owned and operated a 136-acre estate called La Cabaña since 1998. Coffee is cultivated under a canopy of guamo, carbonero, and other native shade trees. The bird-friendly estate has certifications from the Rainforest Alliance and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC). Organic fertilizer is produced on the estate with compost originating from coffee pulp and manure. La Cabaña has had organic certification through ECOCERT since 1999. During the harvest a great deal of care and focus is dedicated to picking the best quality cherries, which are delivered to the wet-mill located at the estate. Here the coffee is depulped, fermented, washed, and gently pre-dried on patios and precisely dried to 11% in mechanical driers. Dario also has his own dry mill in Santa Marta, which allows him to prepare fully traceable lots all the way through to the final export stage.
