Sourcing Detail
If you purchase Colombian micro-lots from Royal Coffee, you have probably been impressed by the results delivered by the collaborative sourcing team of Terra Coffee SAS and an export company called Mastercol. Terra Coffee has the touch for post-harvest strategies and cupping expertise that has brought many talented producers into the specialty coffee fold. Wbeimar Lasso, a Colombian Cup Tasters Champion, agro-industrial engineer and third generation coffee producer, is at the heart of Terra Coffee and the post-harvest protocols that have brought so many lovely Colombian micro-lots to our cupping table. Wbeimar has been working in La Argentina, Palestina, and Acevedo, municipalities in Huila, cultivating particular varieties and carrying out experimental processing that has impressed us all. This particular lot is an example of a producer group dedicated to protecting water sources and using processing techniques to reduce water use and contamination.
Processing Details
For this community lot, each producer cultivated and harvested cherries and then carefully sorted the cherries to remove damaged and underripe fruit. Using their own micro-mills, each producer depulped the cherries and placed the coffee in tanks to ferment the seeds in mucilage for up to 36 hours. No water is used up to this stage, which includes a dry fermentation process. Next the coffee is gently washed with a minimum amount of water. Then the parchment is slowly dried on raised beds to 11 percent. The individual lots are combined to make a community blend and the harmony between producers in post-harvest practices was impressively precise to achieve such a clean and consistent blend.
Exporting Details
Mastercol adds crucial logistical support for things like warehousing and milling so this lot can reach the international market.
