Description

Country Colombia
Farmer Carlos Francisco Guzman Rosero
Altitude 2200
Region Narino
Variety Caturra, Castillo
Processing Washed
Cupping Score 87
Tasting Notes Apple, Berry, Floral, Caramel, Cream
This coffee is made up of contributions from 12 different farmers in the Yacuanquer area of Nariño, so yes, it is a blend, but it is also a very unique and exciting coffee that is so much more than what we think of when we hear the word blend. These farmers are part of a group who are working collectively to help each other out with the harvest. With help from the local cooperative, they have been trained to only select the very best cherry.

In return we pay a premium for their coffee that both covers the additional costs of selective picking, and the cost of legally required health care and pension payments that so few pickers are ever paid.

In July 2019 we visited a couple of farmers who contribute to this blend, as both pickers and producers. The images here are from these producers’ farms: Nelson Chaves, Bernard Chaves and Vicente Cardenas.

The concept behind this coffee is to acknowledge the importance and value of the largely unappreciated players in the coffee supply chain, coffee pickers. Pickers play an important role in producing great coffees, yet they are commonly some of the most vulnerable people in the coffee supply chain.

In Colombia the labour of a coffee picker is dangerous and intensive and they are paid wages that do not justify the work involved. In addition to this they very rarely get access to basic legal benefits that are actually mandatory, such as health care and pension payments. We see in Colombia that coffee picking is becoming scarce with many pickers leaving this work for better alternatives.