Sourcing Details:
Here is one of those rare opportunities where all that is good about coffee intersect. Simply a trifecta of: organic farm management practices; traceable to a producer in the Marcala region, a protected designation of origin (DENOMINACION DE ORIGEN CAFE DE MARCALA); and a meticulous post-harvest processing standard. It all starts with a concept called Finca Humana (the Human Farm) at Café Organico Marcala, S.A. (COMSA), where the wellbeing of humans is the core objective and educating more than 1,500 producer-members to successfully live in harmony with nature is everywhere. At La Fortaleza, the COMSA biodynamic demonstration farm, the focus of transferring knowledge takes place through week-long seminars called Pata de Chucho (pawprints left by a stray dog), which aptly reveals COMSA’s dogged exploration for human productivity in harmony with nature. The trailblazing ideas for using organic matter to productively cultivate high quality coffee is only a sliver of what COMSA teaches about the power of nature through the Finca Humana philosophy. COMSA dedicates funding from the proceeds of coffee sales to run a cutting edge International school dedicated to filling children’s minds with possibility, and training them to be the future leaders of Finca Humana.
Individual Producer Details:
Oscar Omar Alonzo Aguilar is one of the original trailblazers and a central leader in the development of the COMSA philosophy. He has his own farm called Cual Bicicleta, where he cultivates coffee with organic farm management practices he helped develop through COMSA. Oscar also practices meticulous harvesting standards, which includes selectively picking to ensure maximum sugar concentration in the coffee fruit. Harvested cherries are carefully hand sorted and floated to remove less dense and damaged beans. Sorted cherries are depulped, fermented and washed before being placed on raised beds to gently dry over a period of up to 20 days. The results are an outstanding coffee worthy of being a single producer micro-lot.
Exporting Details:
Oscar delivers his dried coffee to COMSA’s warehouse and dry-mill facility where coffee is received, cupped and selected for export. Coffee is hulled and sorted by density and color in preparation for export. COMSA has a fully equipped cupping lab and several Q graders who check the quality prior to shipping. COMSA’s preparation ensures traceability and quality control throughout the post harvest process, which is a vital resource for establishing higher prices for producers.
