| Darabiel Osorio, with his mate Nilson Yunda, is a competition-winning Tarqui producer. But this coffee is all about approachability. A great friend of ours and a next-level ecological farmer, Darabiel pulled it out of the bag with this Caturra which is as gentle and kind as the man who produces it.
One of the fastest adopters of ecological practices, Darabiel has totally blown us away with how rapidly he’s been able to reduce the use of chemical inputs on his farm, especially with his homemade fertilisers and pest controls. He’s made an arrangement with his neighbours, who give him give him their pulp, a key ingredient in organic fertilisers, and he gives them back his own fertiliser preparations. He also decontaminates his own water in an amazing three-stage process, running water through tanks filled with pebbles, then sand and finally into a delicate combo of cow manure and corn cobs; the particular bacteria in this environment ‘eat’ the remaining toxins and the water that comes out is completely clean.
The combination of these techniques means he’s been able to cut his chemical inputs in half in less than a year. Bravo!
This particular Caturra coffee goes through a long 36 hour fermentation process, followed by gentle, slow drying on shaded, raised beds. The fermentation occurs in pickle drums, using thick ‘mothers’ to kick of the process, which sounds funky but results in a beautifully clean and rounded flavour.
This coffee has been celebrated in Huila, taking out the local Feria, or cup competition, and we’re certainly celebrating it here and very happy to be sharing it with you. |
