Origin Story
This coffee was produced by Luz Mila Mazabuel and her husband John Elver on their small farm, El Totumo, located near the town of San Jose, in the municipality of Inzá in the state of Cauca, in Colombia’s south.
At 4 hectares in size, El Totumo (which translates to “the calabash tree” in Spanish) is a fairly large farm for the region (most average just 1-1.5 hectares!). Luz Mila, her husband and her children are a prominent coffee-growing family in the region and have been producing coffee for over 27 years.
El Totumo is mainly planted with the Caturra variety, which was the most popular variety during the 1970s and 1980s when most local farms were established. In recent years, Luz Mila and John Elver have also introduced hybrid varietal Colombia, as part of the country’s efforts to reduce the incidence of coffee leaf rust without affecting cup quality. Dona Luz Mila farms her coffee with traditional techniques and most of the labour is provided by her and her family. Fertilisation occurs around three times a year, usually after manual weeding, and pesticides are rarely used.
The rich, volcanic soil of the area makes it ideal for agriculture and contributes to the excellent cup quality of coffees grown and processed here. Cool overnight temperatures result in dense beans, which are notable for their sweetness and complexity. Lower temperatures and high rainfall also influence processing techniques, with longer ferment and drying times being necessary.
Processing
The coffee in this lot was selectively hand-harvested and processed using the washed method at the farm’s ‘micro-beneficio’ (mill).
The coffee was pulped using a small manual or electric pulper and then placed into a fermentation tank, where it was fermented for up to 80 hours (depending on the weather) and then washed using clean water from nearby rivers and streams.
The coffee was then carefully dried (over 10–18 days) on parabolic beds, which are constructed a bit like a ‘hoop house’ greenhouse, and act to protect the coffee from the rain and prevent condensation dripping back onto the drying beans. The greenhouses are constructed out of plastic sheets and have adjustable walls to help with airflow, and temperature control to ensure the coffee can dry slowly and evenly.
