La Terraza does it again, this time with a low intervention fully washed java cultivar, from one of the highest plots on Juliana and Weimar’s family farm. “Java” in Latin American coffee refers to a preserved typica lineage originally brought by the Dutch, from Yemen, to the island of Java hundreds of years ago. For producers in Latin America there has been widespread use (and disuse) of imported typica over the past few decades, but java’s preservation, however small, is thanks to its exotic value as a direct old-world strain, capable of delicacy and florality unlike common Colombian cultivars. Juliana has high esteem for the cultivar, calling it “exquisite”, “subtly fruity”, and “vibrant”. She feels the fully washed process is the best way to express the complex genetics evoked when grown at this high an elevation. Southern Huila Huila is arguably Colombia’s best-known department for top microlots. Huila’s geographical accessibility, dense population of knowledgeable farmers, warm and subtropical forests, high elevations, and microclimate diversity have for many years sustained one of specialty coffee’s most beloved regions. The fact that most of the department is harvesting coffee almost every month of the year means that fresh coffee is always available. Huila is a long and narrow valley that follows a winding gap between two large cordilleras of the Andes. Colombia’s 950-mile long Magdalena river has its source in southern Huila and has shaped the agriculture here for centuries. Uphill from the valley’s lush and picturesque lower slopes are a diverse array of coffee producing communities, often dramatically steep, and each with their own unique climate and history. Finca La Terraza & Processing Finca La Terraza is the name for the farm owned and managed by Juliana Guevara and her husband, Weimar Lasso. Juliana and Weimar are the duo behind the processor group Terra Coffee (more below). The farm is very passionately run—with a delightful and educational Instagram account no less (@Fincalaterraza). Finca La Terraza resembles countless farms in this part of Colombia, being only a few hectares in size and in a very specific microclimate that encourages coffee trees to fruit nearly the full calendar year—requiring constant monitoring and harvesting in small quantities. We regularly carry their coffees at the Crown. La Terraza has a number of separated varieties, including pacamara, yellow Colombia, and gesha. The farm’s elevation means a cool climate with particularly frigid nights, which retards everything in coffee production that is temperature dependent, including the maturation of cherry on the tree, fermentation, and the drying of parchment. This washed java microlot was hand-picked by La Terraza’s permanent labor force, who are considered by Juliana and Weimar to be calibrated to each cultivar’s unique ripening patterns. Once picked, the coffee was depulped and fermented for 36-48 hours in concrete tanks, and then dried in their parabolic dryer for 14-20 days depending on the local climate. Terra Coffee SAS – Beyond La Terraza Terra Coffee SAS is a local producer group, established in 2016 by Weimar and Juliana, with a narrow focus on developing high quality coffees alongside select producers in the Huila and Nariño departments, and sharing them with the world. The small company manages one single producer association in each department where they work, “Ecoterra” in Nariño, with 140 producer partners, and “Terra Verde” in Huila, with 120. For Terra Coffee SAS as a whole, quality in coffee is very rationally understood as a direct pathway to well-being for volume-limited, small coffee farming families. Driving their business model is an understanding that quality results from small harvests have direct impacts on not just the farm owner, but the many dependents on each small farm, including young children, older adults, and the women of the household performing essential labor that often goes unpaid. By increasing quality and placing microlots in the market, Terra Coffee SAS plans not only to increase prices to growers and their families, but also increase their sense of pride in the details of their work.
