Christmas Brews – Week #1
Available until Wednesday 10th December 

We came across Fernando’s coffee in August this year via his fabulous family members with whom we’ve worked for 3 or so years. Loving the profiles of Eduardo, Miguel, Leonardo, and Edilma, it’s no surprise at all that we also love Fernando’s.

Fernando is a lifelong coffee producer whose passion for farming began in childhood. Like his siblings, he grew up surrounded by coffee trees on his parents’ farms La Inmaculada and San Joaquin. They grew up in a family of seven siblings; five of those siblings are still coffee farmers these days. The 19 hectare family farm Finca San Joaquin was split among several siblings; Eduardo, Miguel, Leonardo live on the farm in separate homes, each painted a different color.

About three years ago, Eduardo and Fernando planted one hectare of caturra chiroso, with seeds that came from Antioquia. Eduardo and Fernando made a plant nursery together to plant the new variety.  Fernando in one of his Buesaco plots and Eduardo at San Joaquin. This was the first year that the brothers were able to harvest the caturra chiroso, and they are pleased with it- the tree produces lots of cherries, just like the castillo variety.

PROCESSING:
Firstly, only ripe coffee is harvested, and often the harvests from three days are collected before depulping. ie Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday pickings are combined and pulped on Wednesday. The coffee is then left to ferment in mucilage in a fermentation tank for 2 days, depending on the weather. The coffee is washed with 3 waters so that it is very white, with a ‘cleaner cup’.

This is the first time we’re aware of Fernando’s coffee being directly purchased by a final buyer, and sold with his name. How good is that?!

PRICING TRANSPARENCY:
We purchase parchment coffee directly from Fernando and pesos are transferred straight to his bank account upon receipt of parchment at the mill. We pay for transport from Nariño to the mill. During the primary harvest in Nariño, we paid Fernando $3,750,000 Colombian pesos (125 kilos of parchment coffee, this is the unit farmers sell their coffee in) for his caturra chiroso.